Which elements of a good classroom management generate better learning environments?

In this post I will explain and develop which are some of the components that, as a future teacher, I consider would define my perspective of the classroom management philosophy that I would adopt and follow in order to generate learning on the students in the best possible environment.

Each teacher or person whose job is related to the world of education, has a different view of the concept of “a good educator”. An essential part that is present on any of these diverse views related to this concept, is the fact of maintaining a positive learning environment in which the students feel safe and supported. In order to create this environment, it is necessary to have a classroom management philosophy that will ensure the creation and maintenance of it. At the time of achieving this kind of environment, each educator chooses and applies the strategies that he or she considers will work the best and will ensure that the students have access to a positive learning climate.

The field of education is a setting in which there is plenty of people playing a different role in order to make a school or learning center work. As I just mentioned, these system components are people; and people makes mistakes, have different views and approaches, and react in different ways to given situations. Based on this, we can consider that the only possible way that a school or learning center can work is if it is sustained over a base of positive and support environment.

One of the main pieces needed for the purpose of creating this environment, is developing healthy teacher-student relationships. The way these relationships are built will determine the atmosphere in which lessons will be taught (from the teacher perspective) and learnt (from the student perspective). These relationships are the product of the combination of student behaviors and teaching behaviors. It is the responsibility of the teachers to be aware of the possible attitudes that the students can adopt in the classroom in order to shape the possible teacher reactions. Some of these student behaviors are described in the last post.

Teacher behaviors should be generated with the purpose of providing support to the student. Some examples can be Modeling (by showing the students which are the expectations to follow), developing Proximity (by being not only present but also near the students), or Providing Effective Feedback (related to routines and expectations, recognizing success on students). Digging deeper into the concept of Modeling and class expectations, it is fundamental that the students are aware of what are they supposed to be doing at each moment, and what would be the consequence of not doing it. By emphasizing this (specially at the beginning of the school year), future misbehaviors will be avoided. Generating class routines and expectations is essential for having a good classroom environment.

Different strategies as the ones mentioned before work better or worse depending on the setting and the class group, but a it is matter of fact that in order to develop healthy and positive teacher-student relationships, it is important that the teacher to approaches the student from his/her life reality. Getting to know the students background, their likes, their hobbies and preferences, will benefit not only the personal relationship but also the group relationship with the teacher. One of the main objectives of the teacher must be keeping the students on task with the purpose of achieving learning and avoiding distractions. This student’s life reality approach mentioned in this paragraph can be key at the time of designing activities that can generate engagement; which if properly managed and directed, generally leads to learning.

There are also different classroom management structures or frameworks already established among the different school districts of the United States, that can be partially or fully adopted by the teachers as a method to create and maintain the learning environment. Some examples of these models are the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), Leader in Me, Behavior Intervention Support Team (BIST), or Conscious Discipline, all of them considered as respected research based methods.

In conclusion, each educator builds his or her “classroom management toolbox” made of strategies and and schemes that work together with the intention of creating and maintaining a positive classroom management in which the students can learn happily and safely.