Classroom Management

Rules and procedures are stated expectations about behavior in the classroom (Santrock). Rules in the classroom are designed to promote student efficiency, minimize distractions, and keep everyone safe. Rules are a social contract between teacher and students (and the school and society) so that each party understands what is expected of them. When students understand what sorts of things will not be tolerated by the teacher the number of corrective interjections is reduced and the classroom's overall environment is more positive one.

An authoritarian classroom management style is restrictive and focuses on order in the classroom rather than learning (Willems 2013). It limits verbal exchange since the teacher is seeking compliance over comprehension. This style ends up being a detriment to students. The students become passive learners and fail to initiate activites or ask many questions. According to Dr. MacKenzie, some students may respond to authoritarian management with rebellion and actively clash with the teacher (MacKenzie 2003).

The permissive classroom management style is characterized by the instructor giving the students considerable leeway in how they conduct themselves and setting few limits. The students end up with little support and inadequate academic skills. The style reinforces immediate gratification and promotes low self control (Willems 2013).

Even worse is a style best described as flip-flopping. If a permissive teacher gets "fed up" with the behavior of the students they may attempt to "crack down" on the class as a whole or by choosing a student to set an example upon. This style also incites student rebellion as their normal mode of operation is with every freedom until the teacher suddenly switches gears. The students may attempt to bait the teacher to find the limit of patience. This style is associated with teachers who set rules but frequently "make exceptions" or give too many warnings without concrete repercussions. The students learn what they can get away with, instead of learning the curriculum (MacKenzie 2003).

An authoritative classroom management style is the most effective and desirable of management styles. The teacher sets firm rules that are clearly presented and reminded. They display a caring attitude towards the students and promote academic success without being "easy" (MacKenzie 2003). These teachers advocate teacher-student interaction. The students learn to be self-reliant and well-adjusted. They understand that the teacher has high expectations but will help them to achieve those goals. They culture high self-esteem and learn to delay gratification (Willems 2013).

Teacher "with-it-ness" is described as a teacher's ability to keep students cognitively engaged in learning tasks and aware of all the important happenings in the classroom (Willems 2013). To be an effective teacher one needs to be able to notice misbehavior from across the room and have a system in place to desist those behaviors with as little class disruption as possible. Effective teacher "with-it-ness" is characterized by a smoothness and momentum of instruction: being able to address several topics or level of comprehension at one time in order to maximize scaffolding for all students. These teachers can keep students focused and their students enjoy minimal distractions, task variety, and personal accountability (Willems 2013).

A classroom's physical space should be organized to maximize efficiency and promote a positive mindset. If the students usually engage in group activities in the middle of the classroom, setting the desks up in rows that needed to be moved before and after each class session would use up precious class time and invite diversion. The area where teachers are mostly likely to interact with students is the "action zone". In a row-style  setup this area is typically the students seated "front and center", literally, the students in the front and center rows (Santrock 2011).

In personalizing a classroom's arrangement the teacher can involve the students decide on the most effective arrangement style. An auditorium style fan of desks gives each student an equal view of the board, inhibits face-to-face student contact, and is ideal for lectures (Santrock). Seminar, offset, and clustered desks promote student interaction and cooperation, though sacrificing some teacher accessibility and view. Most "face-to-face" style arrangements have the same benefits and limitations as the previous three but can be arranged around a center space for the teacher. This substyle mimics the regular "rows" setup while grouping the students into smaller sections to promote cooperation, but still sacrifice a comfortable view of the blackboard.

Behavioristic strategies of classroom management  rely on behavior modification and the use of reinforcement or punishment (Willems 2013). A contingency contract is a mutually agreed upon contract that outlines the consequences of student behavior (Willems 2013) and can easily be distributed with the syllabus. The students are made aware of what is expected of them and can be reminded of their contract throughout the school year to reinforce the sense of duty. Positive reinforcement such as an economy system of tokens or cumulative free time offers something every student can work towards. It is probably best not to use extra credit as the reward token to keep average-performing students from complaining that "the ones who do not need the points are the ones that get it". If the tokens benefit the whole class, however, there may be less incentive for every student to participate and result in "coat-tailing".

To desist misbehavior the most effective system for high school is probably the "Punishment I", aversion stimuli (aka negative consequence) behavior modification. Serious downsides are inherent in this method. Punishment can satisfy a need for attention and model aggression (Willems 2013). Punishment does not teach correct behavior and it only a temporary solution with the possibility of long-lasting negative emotions.

Minor interventions of negative behaviors can be as simple as the teacher shaking their head or pressing a finger to their lips (Santrock 2011). Moderate interventions include punishments such as withholding a privilege or isolating the student (Santrock 2011). It is important to "make the punishment fit the crime", at least in scope. Punishing a student with lunch detention for talking out of turn in class could be seen as "lashing out" and overall promotes hurt feelings without actually correcting any behavior.

To guard against over-reacting in the classroom a teacher should work on developing a sense of high self efficacy, or the belief that one can master a situation and produce positive outcomes (Santrock 2011). Teachers with high self-efficacy tend to see themselves as good teachers and promote high self-efficacy in their students. However, teachers with high self efficacy are at risk for believing that other teachers are generally less effective than themselves, perceiving them with low general efficacy (Willems 2013). Teachers with low self efficacy may see every minor problem as a major problem, miring themselves in classroom management corrections and detracting from the curriculum (Santrock 2011). Therefore, how a teacher perceives their efficacy can have serious consequences on classroom management and student achievement.

Parents are a valuable resource when it comes to finding ways to motivate students and keep them on track. Teachers can use parent-teacher-conferences to correct major misbehavior or serious academic problems, but students may feel as if they do not have any control over what happens to them if the teacher goes straight to the parents without trying to work out issues with the student first. Parent involvement is not without its drawbacks. If a parent is authoritarian in the home they may persist in trying to control the student while at school, through frequently emailing the teacher or or even disagreeing with methods used by the teacher to correct behaviors in class. Making parents feel welcome in the classroom and feel a part of their student's education (because they are) can help alleviate stress for both the student and their family. By involving the parents from the beginning through an open-house day or even asking for a parent signature on the syllabus the parents become part of the learning and classroom management process. Attempting to keep an open communication with the parents through email or newsletters helps keep abreast of student assignments without having to hound their child. Communication can also help parents set aside anxieties about their teacher and the curriculum by seeing the teacher be actively involved and caring for the child.


References:

Epstein, J. L. (2000). Epsteinís Six Types of Parent Involvement. Retrieved from http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeprevention/download/pdf/Abreviated%20Epstein.pdf

MacKenzie R. J. (2003). Setting Limits in the Classroom: How to Move Beyond the Dance of Discipline in Today's Classrooms. Three Rivers Press.

Microsoft Free Clipart. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/results.aspx?qu=angry&ex=1#ai:MC900441568|

Willems P. (2013). Classroom Management (Slides). Retrieved from www.Blackboard.com

Psychology and Motivation

Motivation is that which propels a person to put effort into a task. Motivation can come from internal interest and desire or from external rewards or requirements. Students who have high interest and a reasonable challenge may find themselves highly motivated towards learning and have high achievement. Students with low interest or too great a challenge will not be supported sufficient internal motivation to highly achieve in the academic task. Students can be motivated externally by rewards or requirements but there is a risk that the achievement will become solely tied to the reward and interest and intrinsic (internal) motivation will be low. This sort of motivation can result in low quality work or "just enough" achievement. It is important to try to reinforce intrinsic motivation and use extrinsic (external) motivation sparingly. A student with only extrinsic motivation will not achieve highly, and if they attempt to due to requirement, may be met with anxiety or burnout. A student intrinsically motivated will be more likely to keep themselves on task and complete higher quality work because they want to put more effort into the task in order to receive enjoyment and emotional reward!

Weiner's attribution theory states that individuals are motivated to discover the attributions (perceived causes of outcomes) of their own performance and behavior (Santrock 2011). In other words, when something happens to them as a result of something they did, they ask why. If a student gets a bad grade on a test they are not content with knowing their grade, they want feedback. They want to know what they did poorly on, they want to know "what they did or did not do" to get a bad grade (hopefully in order to correct it). The student will come to a causal conclusion based on their perceptions of a situation and their combination of causal attributions. According to Weiner there are three dimensions to attributions: locus (they are the cause, or something else of the cause), stability (the extent to which the cause remains the same or changes), and controllability (the extent to which the individual can control the cause). A student with a set of causal attributions described as "internal-stable-uncontrollable" may conclude that they are simply not smart enough to take the exam properly. A student with "internal-stable-controllable" causal attributions may blame themselves for "never studying". Students with "external-stable-controllable" attributions may blame the teacher for being biased, and "external-unstable-controllable" attributions may cause the student to blame their friends for not helping them enough!

A student that thinks the reason they do poorly is because the teacher does not like them has an external locus of control. This attribution is stable: they blame something that can consistently be the cause (as opposed to an unstable cause like bad luck). They student does have control of the situation and the cause, either in their method of test preparation (or lack thereof). A teacher can attempt to change these attributions by identifying them and then working with the student to move their locus of control into their own hands. Giving a student the tools and scaffolding to succeed gives them control; whether or not they use that material comes down to motivation.

According to Maslow's Hierarchy of needs a human being's needs must be satisfied in a particular sequence. A human being must first have adequate food, sleep, and water. Without these the human does not function. Next the human being requires safety. This can come in the form of a home or shelter, or protection from physical harm within those structures. Without these the human cannot have love and belongingness, which is the next set of needs. A human being needs affection and community. Once these are achieved the human can progress to have self-esteem. From this point in the hierarchy it is easy to see how failings in any of the previous tiers preclude people from having self esteem. A hungry child cannot feel safe. An abused child cannot readily feel love. A lonely child cannot achieve positive self-esteem. Without all this a human cannot realize one's potential and reach the top tier, "self actualization".

A teacher can work to give students the motivation to self-actualize and realize their potential in the classroom via extrinsic motivation, but must first understand what kind of motivation orientation the student has. According to Developmental psychologists children can display "helpless orientation" and seem trapped by their perceived lack of ability. They may frequently say things like "I'm not very good at this" even though they may have demonstrated success in the task previously (Santrock 2011). Students may have "performance orientation" and be focused on the outcome of their actions or abilities. These students believe that success results from winning. "Mastery oriented" students may be self-motivation students that attack tasks analytically and are happily challenged by difficult tasks instead of feeling overwhelmed by them. Students may exhibit combinations of these orientations. For example, I recognize that I have both mastery and helpless orientation. I organize difficult challenges for myself, analyzing how and when I could complete them, and am excited as much by the planning process and execution as the result. However, less than significant setbacks result in my shying away. This chapter particularly struck me as it almost seems my key phrase is "I'm just not very good at this". It became a crutch when I was younger and I still work on it today. Examples of this orientation mix litter my house in minor ways, in the form of unfinished sewing projects, half filled puzzle books, abandoned roller blades, etc. I started the project, excited by something new and difficult (freehand embroidery, let's say) and when I made a mistake that would require me to undo almost an hour of stitching, I put it away and declared myself a poor embroiderer. I have not gotten completely away from the helpless orientation but I am actively working on it.



References:
Microsoft Free Clipart. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/results.aspx?qu=motivation&ex=2
Santrock, John W. (2011) Educational Psychology. 5th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Willems, Patricia. (2006) Educational Psychology Casebook. Pearson Education, Inc.
Willems, Patricia. (2013) Motivation (Slides). Retrieved from www.Blackboard.com.

Information Processing

The role of the mind's sensory register is to store everything one sees, hears, or otherwise senses in the information's original and unencoded form. Though the space is large the information retention is short-lived: visual imagery is stored less than one second, and auditory information is stored about 2-3 seconds. Once information in the sensory register is being paid "attention" due to emotional stimuli, incentive, or novelty, the information is moved to "working memory". Anything not moved to working memory is lost.

Working memory is commonly called "short term memory". Information here is being mentally processed for retention and placement into long-term memory. Working memory has a duration of between 5 to 20 seconds. The information can be processed automatically (if interesting) or by purposeful chunking.

Long term memory has a purportedly unlimited capacity. Information moved here has been encoded and connected with prior knowledge to anchor it. This is where the mind stores declarative knowledge like procedures and facts, and personal memories of emotional stimulations (like hiking the Grand Canyon). Retrieving the information is connected to how the information was stored. For instance, using a mnemonic device to learn the mathematical order of operations (Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally) means that the operational order Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiply/Divide, Add/Subtract, [PEMDAS] can be called to use by reciting the device.

A student seeing PEMDAS for the first time is storing the visual (and possibly auditory) information in their sensory register. Being required to learn the information for class, they pay Attention and the information is moved to short term memory. The students know they need to be able to recall this info. One student tells themself they will "remember", and another student recites "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally" three times and writes it down to repeat it in sets throughout the day. The student using the Mnemonic device and paying purposeful attention is storing the information in their long term memory and connecting the order with information they already know (as they know what parenthesis are, how to multiply/divide, and add/subtract). The student not using a mnemonic or paying further attention risks the information expiring from short term memory after 20 seconds and will be surprised and dismayed when he seems it on the exam.

This model of human memory was described by Dr. Richard Atkinson & Dr. Richard Shriffin. In their Model of Human Memory attention plays the key role in moving information from sensory memory to short term memory. Without attention the information does not make it past sensory memory at all.

Two strategies to rehearse information and encode it into long term memory are mnemonics and meaningful learning. In the high school science classroom students will learn a great number of cycles and hierarchies that will be difficult to relate to previously learned information. By creating mnemonics for these cycles the students are creating an easier framework to stitch the information into. For example: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species, is the phylogenic hierarchy in biology. That is a LOT of words and some of them have probably never been heard before. A mnemonic, created with the first letters of each word and turned into a humorous or meaningful ditty, gives the student something catchy they can rehearse. Dear King Phillip Came Over For Good Soup! Encouraging students to make up their own helps them make the mnemonics meaningful, although some of the ditties they come up with may not be school appropriate, at least they will remember.

Making learning meaningful is a worthwhile strategy for turning short term memory into long term memory but can require more work. Encouraging the students to put things in their own words and connect new material to old material helps the student process the information on a level they are comfortable and familiar with. It is much easier to recall that urea breaks down and releases ammonia if the students can connect the words and concept with that unforgettable smell of cat urine.

References:

• Microsoft Free Clipart. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/results.aspx?qu=memory&ex=2
• Santrock, John W. (2011) Educational Psychology. 5th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
• Willems, Patricia. (2006) Educational Psychology Casebook. Pearson Education, Inc.
• Willems, Patricia. (2013) Information Processing (Slides). Retrieved from www.Blackboard.com.

Social Cognitive Theory

Bandura developed a reciprocal determinism model for Social cognitive theory that consists of three main factors: behavior, person/cognitive, and environment (Santrock 2011). His theory states that environmental factors and observational will influence learning. The model can be considered cyclic, in a Person-Behavior-Environment loop: environment influences the person's cognition (expectations, beliefs, attitudes, strategies, thinking, and intelligence), which is reflected in their Behaviour, which causes an effect on their environment, which again influences the person. The cycle can also be describes in reverse. This model differs from Classical Conditioning and Operant Conditioning in that the conditioning of classical and Operant tend to be purposefully enforced on the learner. Classical conditioning uses triggers to condition the learner into a behaviour, and Operant Conditioning the consequences of behavior produce changes in the probability that the behavior will occur. Both models are considered methods "used" on a learner. The Bandura model takes into account everything used and not used around the learner to influence their social cognition.

For example, a child may engage in Response disinhibition if they observe that, though they were scolded for taking a cookie without asking their sibling got away with the same behaviour, the child may actually engage in the cookie-stealing behaviour more often.

A child may display Response inhibition, or, engaging in a previously learned behavior less often if they see someone get punished for it. To paint a traumatic example, if a child learns to roller-skate on Tuesday but on Wednesday observes a friend get pushed over by a bully while roller-skating the child may engage in their learned behavior (skating) less.

A common example of how modeling effects learning is Observational learning. A child sees a behavior and mimics it, such as a toddler clapping when an adult claps at it, or a teenager learning how to reproduce circles with a compass in Geometry class. According to Bandura there are four key processes to observational learning: Attention, Retention, Production, and Motivation. In Attention a child sees or pays attention to the model of behaviour, usually their parent. The model is influenced by their own affective output such friendliness, grouchiness, laziness, etc. To reproduce the model's behaviour the child engages in Retention; they code the information and keep it in memory so they can retrieve it (Santrock 2011). The more vivid or engaging the behavior the more likely it is to be retained. Though the information is coded the child may not be able to produce the behaviour (especially if the behavior is throwing boulders around like Superman). For realistic models, like throwing a basketball instead of a boulder, practice and coaching from a model can improve Production of the behaviour. Last in the Observational Model is Motivation. The learner may not be motivated to produce the modeled behaviour (see the teen and his Geometry circles above). Subsequent reinforcement of the behaviour, or incentives like report cards, can supply the motivation to imitate the model's behavior.

Self-efficacy is the belief that one can master a situation and produce positive outcomes. It is not motivation, per say, but can be a source of motivation.  Self-efficacy is cognitive-domain-specific and should not be confused with self-esteem, which can apply to a wide variety of activities (Willems 2013). Self-efficacy effects learning and achievement in that a child with high self-efficacy and believes they will do well on a test may be motivated to try their best to achieve that, or an even better, grade. A child low self-efficacy might not even try to study for a test because they don't believe it will do them any good (Santrock 2011). To use an academic example, if a student has low self-efficacy and thinks they just cannot "get" reading they may be less likely to even open the book. If they were to have their self-efficacy increased, maybe through some positive feedback from a teacher or parent, the child will be more likely to try. A child with high self-efficacy has probably already read the book, just to prove to themselves how awesome they are. To a certain extent self-efficacy can be influenced by environmental modeling (viewing of others successes and failures) and persuasion; helping to raise the self-efficacy of a child to the high level of the book-devourer should be a goal of every educator. In the classroom a teacher can help to increase a student's sense of self-efficacy through positive modeling and prosocial behaviors such as voluntary behavior intended to benefit another.

According to Santrock succinct definition, Self-regulatory learning consists of the self-generation and self-monitoring of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in order to reach a goal. These goals might be academic (improving comprehension while reading, becoming a more organized writer, learning how to do multiplication, asking relevant questions) or they might be socioemotional (controlling one’s anger, getting along better with peers) (Santrock 2011). Learners with a well developed sense of self-regulation set goals for themselves and are aware of emotional factors that may conflict with these goals, such as getting "stressed out" and taking a walk or stepping away from the frustrating activity. Educators can help students to become more self-regulated by giving them opportunities to be so. In 1996 Sebastian Bonner and Robert Kovach published a model to help low-self-regulatory students increase their self-regulation. In this multistep cycle the student engages (probably at the behest of an educator or mentor) in self-evaluation and monitoring by keeping a log or diary of their activities. These logs provide a record of what "worked" and "didn't work" at the end of their activities. With the help of a teacher the student sets a goal and outlines a plan to achieve it. A teacher can help the student break their goal into components or bite-size pieces and provide strategies to reach those goals. The student then goes about these strategies and continues to monitor their actions and progress. At the next conclusion the student again sees what "worked and didn't work" and this time achieved some or more of their goals. The cycle continues until the student no longer needs educator assistance in providing strategies and has become self-regulated and thereby more independent, confident in their abilities, and with a higher self-efficacy!



Santrock, John W. (2011) Educational Psychology. 5th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Willems, Patricia. (2013) Social Cognitive Theory (Slides). Retrieved from www.Blackboard.com.

Critical Pedagogy and Social Justice

Implementing multicultural education from the perspective of critical pedagogy, social justice pedagogy, or critical multiculturalism, requires the unlearning of what we think we know and responding to the unique needs of each classroom. Critical pedagogy is the process of learning and unlearning and conscientization. An effective multicultural teacher is constantly unlearning that they think they know about a particular culture, language, lesson, and student. They relearn, not in the light of how they "should" do something but in the light of how something works best at that moment. Truisms are challenged and the effective multicultural educator must be prepared to have what they know challenged, proven insufficient, and rebuilt every year.

Critical multiculturalism is the concept of seeing into and beyond the complexities of multiculturalism. Multiculturalism is more than the celebration of various surface cultures and means to endeavor to understand why people think and act the way they do. This requires the educator to not only look into the cultures of their students but to examine their own national and gender culture and explore how it effects their teaching and interactions.

Conscientization is the power to recognize that you know what you know, and the courage to use it. The educator may encounter various negative social structures that need to be challenged for the good of the students, such as gender or racial socialization, group silencing or marginalizing, thought schooling, and more. Following one's conscientization engages the educator in pursuit of social justice in pedagogy. wink uses a great example in her text "Critical Pedagogy" where an instructor is to teach a lesson containing material they know to be outdated and scientifically inaccurate. Without a developed sense of conscientization the educator may simply slog the students through the material and be done with it. However, the educator CAN bring the fact that the material is outdated to the department and make a case for removing it from the curriculum.

John Dewey "linked education to democracy" expanded the understanding of multicultural education through pragmastism (a philosophy of usefulness and practicality largely based on merit). Dewey felt that to be an effective citizen in a democracy one needed to be educated, intelligent, and participate in social and political life (Russell 2013). Though in 1916 gave little weight to history, except in the light of the present, he felt contemporary citizens and society where complementary. In his work on Democracy and Education he wrote "the one thing every individual must do is to live; the one thing that society must do is to secure from each individual his fair contribution to the general well being and see to it that a just return is made to him (Dewey 1916). By the end of his life and work Dewey sought to provide educators with strategies for reaching students that would honor each child's individual strengths and interests, thereby providing the basis for individualized instruction, multiculturalism, and special education (Davis, ND), and these strategies are inherent in the modern multicultural classroom.

Like Dewey, Paulo Freire was a strong advocate for multicultural education and is best known as an influential theorist of critical pedagogy through his work "Pedagogy of the Oppressed". Freire believed that education was the right of all and not "a gift from the oppressor to the oppressed" (Russell 2013). He advocated for critiquing of the educational system, arguing "there can be no teaching without learning and no learning without teaching". This suggests that if the education system and educators do not learn from and adjust to their pupils the system is ineffective at best. Freire himself admitted that he was forced to update his own book and relearn gender neutrality when women responded to his book negatively; they felt their voice was omitted from the Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Wink 2005). In today's classroom educators recognize his contribution by actively learning from their students as often as the students learn from them. A teacher "unlearns" their schooling, socialization, and tendencies to marginalize or silence, to reach every student in a way that is effective and beneficial.

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Au, W., Bigelow, B., & Karp, S. (Editors), (2007). Rethinking our Classrooms - Volume 1. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools Ltd.

Davis, Donna (ND) John Dewey (1859-1952) - University, Education, Philosophy, and Students - JRank Articles. Retrieved from http://social.jrank.org/pages/199/Dewey-John-1859-1952.html#ixzz2LIlgas86

Dewey, John (1916). Democracy and Education. Norwood, MA: Norwood Press. Retrieved from http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Democracy_and_Education

Russell, C., (2013). Pedagogy and social justice PowerPoint. Retrieved from Blackboard.com.

Wink, Joan (2005) Critical Pedagogy: Notes from the Real World (Third edition). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Image credit: Tim Raynor at http://philosophyforchange.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/unlearning-in-crisis-and-change/