Week+2

[|Take5] 

= Classroom Management = ==

Hello all,

Happy to lead this discussion! Found the categorisation of the children into the four types (A, B,C, D).Found the use of the term managament eg As can manage themselves, Bs can be managed within the class even though they are occasionally disruptive, Cs need managagement in isolation away from the group and Ds cannot be managed at all. What do you guys think is meant exactly by the term management? I suppose what I'm getting at here is that I really don't believe that you can seperate management of the classroom and learning, surely through learning could come management? Its not like they all have to be managed or disciplined first so that learning can begin. Because I forsee no learning taking place if that is the case. Let me know your thoughts on this if you can-do you think discipline and learning go hand in hand and improve on each other or do you have to have discipline first before learning? I liked the definition of different powers although it did feel a bit like Captain Planet-maybe that came across in our presentation although that was more BBC style... Just recapping the powers so people don't have to rifle through their notes: Legitimate (role related think policeman) Expert ( related to knowledge and skills-like a doctor) Referent( having power a over a person because you have a relationship with that person-like a friend) Reward ( power related to recognition) Coercive( power related to the fear of punishment) I liked how in one of the readings it said Aggression breeds aggression and I immediately thought of the coercive power and how we immediately recognise teachers who use this all the time as ones who have lost control. Then I thought about the reward power and the same seems to apply here. If you reward someone for learning then when they get out into the world and they are not rewarded for learning they may just stop. Surely learning should be its own reward? I don't know how much legitimate power teachers have anymore-but I would say much more in primary than in secondary schools due to the rise of teen culture etc. What do you guys think? I do prefer referent power obviously but I find it scary, because then someones learning depends on the relationship you have with them and we all know how changable and ambiguous and tenuous relationships can be! So what do kids want from a teacher in a classroom? Well that question is answered(as far as it can ever be I suppose!) in one of Week 2s readings Classroom discipline in Australia by Roman Lewis. Apparently they want similar things to the teacher. I have written them out here in conjunction with the powers that might be used to achieve these outcomes but feel free to go in and change them-it would be great to know what people think! So students want: Clear rules designed in conjuction with them (referent and coercive together) Sanctions(such as isolation) after a warning applied in a calm manner(coercive but calm) Good behaviour should be recognised(reward) And all this should not involve parent or another teacher(I suppose this is referent again meaning you have a good enough relationship that you don't need to involve external parties). This is spilling into week 3s work a bit but I liked the expression in one of the readings that you have to trust that students will want to learn when we are asking questions that are relevant to them, and that in order to build on that trust we need to take risks in the way we relate to them. For example one teacher used an I statement, meaning she honestly said: "When you make the room messy I feel frustrated because I am a very neat person.Do you have any solutions as to how we could solve this problem?" I love that, that is my personal idea of discipline and classroom managament. That we have the courage to be honest with ourselves and the children, we only say how their behaviour makes us feel and we thrust the ball and some of the power into their court to resolve the situation without critisism, getting angry or pretending we are happy all the time. Its kind of like treating children like real people who will understand which I believe in many cases is true. What do you all think of this method of discipline? Lily (dated 16 March 2009) Picture sourced: []

**Home** | Week 1 - Sir Ken Robinson "Ideas Worth Spreading" | Week 3 - So You Want To Be A Teacher | Week 4 - Planning for Learning | Week 5 - Models of Teaching and Learning | Week 6 - Teacher Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct | Week 7 - Who Are Your Students? | Week 8 - Issues from the coalface - VIt and planning