The concept of Classroom Management has been a point of discussion for many years; changing as different theoretical frameworks emerge. Popular perspectives range from including curriculum design and delivery in the classroom management discourse, to a more limited focus on control of disruptive classroom behaviour. The American Psychological Association – referencing Evertson and Weinstein’s Handbook on Classroom Management – puts it this way:
“Although there is no agreed-upon definition of classroom management, the framework offered by Evertson and Weinstein (2006) represents a current and widely accepted view. … classroom management has two distinct purposes: “It not only seeks to establish and sustain an orderly environment so students can engage in meaningful academic learning, it also aims to enhance student social and moral growth” (p. 4).
Promoting Student Growth and Development
While it is clear that the maintenance of an “orderly environment” includes the management of disruptive or potentially disruptive behaviour, it is helpful to think of student growth and development as including the establishment of limits, boundaries and clear consequence as a means of promoting social and moral maturity beneficial to a student throughout their lifetime.
Classroom Management Outside the Classroom
While it is easy to understand the concept of classroom management within the four walls of the physical space, the meaning of “classroom” is changing. Keeping in mind the purposes described above, it is effective to think of management as a strategy that applies to all instructional or academic interactions with a student, regardless of the physical environment.
Here are some “outside the classroom” situations where management strategies could help:
- The student who consumes an inordinate amount of office-hour time to debate fine points of class content because their mother’s, cousin’s, brother-in-law does this sort of work and thinks the instructor is wrong.
- The student who way-lays the instructor as he or she dashes between classes, insisting on a detailed tutorial on the past four lessons, because they neglected to bring their laptop while vacationing in Maui.
- The student who repeatedly posts questionable and unrelated comments on an on-line course blog; repeatedly emails their instructor to ask questions covered in course materials; or repeatedly phones their instructor at home to complain that their individual learning needs are not being met.
Welcome to the World of Classroom Management.