Week+2

=Week 2 - Classroom management =

As the issues course is partly about a teacher's biography and how it influences their professional life, I thought I'd begin this page with a little bit about how my personal experiences of classroom management has shaped my philosophy.

Freiberg (2007) makes mention of the fact that how one experienced discipline at school largely informs one's teaching approach to classroom management. I suppose, by extension, this also applies to one's formative teaching experiences.

I first taught in a difficult secondary school in Kent in the UK that had failed its [|Ofsted] inspection and was under threat of closure. School, staff and pupil morale was low and pupil behaviour was generally poor. I was the seventh science teacher that some classes had had in a school year and it soon became apparent to me that I find it difficult to remain calm and unruffled in the classroom in the face of repeated disruption. Although, I did develop some strategies to help out in front of challenging classes.

This is why I found this week's lecture so interesting, having struggled with a number of group C and D students! The lecture was very useful in outlining some approaches to classroom management and gave me considerable hope that otherwise intractable students may be 'tamed'. A vitally important piece of advice to take away from the lecture was to always separate the student from their behaviour. The journey of a student and class from basic obedience to responsibility was one I found intriguing and something I intend to try in my own classroom.

I feel that a blend of the strategies outlined in the lecture would be the best approach rather than sticking to with one exclusively. Non-verbal cues in the classroom can also be enormously important and influential in establishing a positive classroom environment. Flexibility of approach is essential for any teacher and what works for one student one day may not work on others.

I come at this topic from a very narrow approach and will be very interested to read the responses that come up.

Simon Upchurch 9/3/09

NB After all of our response, do we collate an 'approved' final version incorporating our edits? I also posted this under the Shafashafa name after a bit of a balls up - whoops.

Ref Freiberg, H Jerome (2007) A Person-Centered Approach to Classroom Management. Paper presented at International Meeting of American Education Research Association, Chicago Illinois.