Preventative, corrective and supportive approaches

Rogers identifies preventative, corrective and supportive forms of classroom discipline (Rogers, 1997: 10):

• 'Preventative' approaches establish clear rules and consequences which aim to prevent the development of poor behaviour
• 'Corrective' approaches 'correct' disruptive behaviour by 'telling off'
• 'Supportive' approaches offer 'correction' supportively, quickly re-establishing working relationships

In my opinion, each of these approaches to classroom management support learning effectively, A good way to use the preventative approach is to create classroom contracts and get students involved. Sometimes the corrective approach can be a bit damaging to the flow of the lesson and can make the ‘corrected’ pupil harbor a sense of resentment. The ‘supportive’ approach is better, if you quietly explain to a pupil away from peers, why his behavior is not acceptable resentment is less likely to occur.

Rewards and sanctions, rules and routines

Child (2002) says that unacceptable classroom behaviour is likely to be minimised when the teacher

• Aims to personalise the learning for each student and identifies the most appropriate learning style
• Supports and challenges students as well as planning activities and content which are interesting
• Monitors and recognises progress based on well developed assessment strategies

I would agree with Child on these 3 points, students all have a preferred method of learning and I’ve found that if the activities are not engaging and interesting students lose focus.

The school I teach in has very few students so it is important that you develop a good relationship with these pupils although effective classroom management needs to be enforced for good learning to take place. In my opinion praise, rewards, sanctions, rules and routines need to be consistent and a school must have a code of conduct which pupils must follow and teachers should enforce. Praise should be plentiful to motivate students and set a good example to those who aren’t behaving. Rewards should be followed through on and not be superficial (such as a chocolate bar), good rewards might be a letter of praise sent home or a certificate of merit. Punishments must be fair and worthwhile and should also be followed through on because if there not pupils know that they can get away with bad behavior. These good relationships with pupils must have a line drawn somewhere so effective classroom management can take place. I have an experience of punishing a pupil many times and in return this pupil started to behaved and respected me more.

Planning issues for inexperienced teachers

One sign of teacher development is the moment when she or he becomes more concerned about how pupils are learning (and how to develop this learning) than about survival during the lesson.

After watching a video about an inexperienced French teacher planning lessons, these were my observations:

Claire was concentrating on how pupils were learning, she planed her lessons to suit different learning styles, set lesson objectives, made pupils set personal objectives and at the end of the lesson she tested the pupils knowledge. 

The planning challenges which Claire faced included:

- Time of the lesson (afternoon)

- Lots of different abilities in 1 class

She addressed these problems by making activities energetic and putting students in groups to help those less able. She also made pupils set realistic personal aims which they were to achieve by the end of the lessson.

Claire learnt that planning is easier when you use a mind map - a non-linear way of planning.

The importance of effective planning

Effective teachers are those who are:

good at setting a clear framework and objectives for each lesson. The effective teacher is very systematic in the preparation for, and execution of, each lesson. The lesson planning is done in the context of the broader curriculum and longer-term plans. It is a very structured approach, beginning with a review of previous lessons, and an overview of the objectives of the lesson linked to previous lessons.
(Harris, Day, Hadfield, Hopkins, Hargreaves and Chapman, 2002: 59)

I would  agree that there is a close relationship between the success of a lesson and the quality of its planning. If a teacher takes the time to set lesson aims, think of a range of activities and anticipate problems then the lesson usually goes smoothly and is enjoyable for both teacher and pupil. This is not always true though, there have been times when I have had no time to plan and therefore have just taught a lesson ‘off the top of my head’ and this has gone very well as there is a sense of spontaneity – which pupils don’t realize. It gives you a chance to experiment although it is rare that these types of lessons are successful.  

A successful lesson I have taught recently was for ESL. The lesson was on the subject of ‘Honesty’ and focused on speaking. I had lots of different activities planned and had even gone as far as writing instructions for students in my lesson plan. If this lesson was not plan ned to the extent it was it would not have been so successful. The planning allowed me to carefully source together relevant activities and set clear aims and learning objectives. This lesson was so successful that after reflection on the lesson I was able to render any problems and continue to use it with added activities and methodologies.

A lesson which was not very successful was a lesson focusing on revision and exam focus. I had not planned anything and there was to much teacher talking time. The resources were not sufficient enough and students seemed very disinterested and demotivated.