Many   teachers have regarded students’ ”off-task behavior” as one of the most serious classroom management problems and challenges especially to beginning teachers who have only 1-5 years of teaching experience.

            Educators have developed what they call “positive classrooms”. DiGiulio sees positive classroom management as the result of four factors: how teachers regard their students (spiritual dimension), how they set up the classroom environment (physical dimension), how skillfully they teach content (instructional dimension), and how well they address students’ behavior (managerial dimension). In positive classrooms student participation and collaboration are encouraged in a safe environment that has been created. A positive classroom environment can be encouraged by being consistent with expectations, using students’ names, providing choices when possible, and having an overall trust in students.

            Teachers especially the new ones are using various techniques to have a positive classroom.  One way is through establishing a good teacher-student relationships. Some characteristics of having good teacher-student relationships in the classroom involves the appropriate levels of dominance, cooperation, and awareness of high-needs students. Dominance is defined as the teacher’s ability to give clear purpose and guidance concerning student behavior and their academics. By creating and giving clear expectations and consequences for student behavior, this builds effective relationships. Such expectations may cover classroom etiquette and behavior, group work, seating arrangements, the use of equipment and materials, and also classroom disruptions. Assertive teacher behavior also reassures that thoughts and messages are being passed on to the student in an effective way. Assertive behavior can be achieved by using erect posture, appropriate tone of voice depending on the current situation, and taking care not to ignore inappropriate behavior by taking action.

         Another approach that can be used by new teacher or experienced teachers as well, is the Preventive approaches to classroom management.  This involves creating a positive classroom community with mutual respect between teacher and student. Teachers using the preventive approach offer warmth, acceptance, and support unconditionally – not based on a student’s behavior. Fair rules and consequences are established and students are given frequent and consistent feedback regarding their behavior. One way to establish this kind of classroom environment is through the development and use of a classroom contract. The contract should be created by both students and the teacher. In the contract, students and teachers decide and agree on how to treat one another in the classroom. The group also decides on and agrees to what the group will do should there be a violation of the contract. Rather than a consequence, the group should decide on a way to fix the problem through either class discussion, peer mediation, counseling, or by one on one conversations leading to a solution to the situation.

            Preventive techniques also involve the strategic use of praise and rewards to inform students about their behavior rather than as a means of controlling student behavior. In order to use rewards to inform students about their behavior, teachers must emphasize the value of the behavior that is rewarded and also explain to students the specific skills they demonstrated to earn the reward. Teachers should also encourage student collaboration in selecting rewards and defining appropriate behaviors that will earn rewards.  Another significant approach that can be used in classroom management is the “Culturally responsive classroom management (CRCM).” It is an approach to running classrooms with all children in a responsive way. More than a set of strategies or practices, CRCM is a pedagogical approach that guides the management decisions that teachers make. It is a natural extension of culturally responsive teaching which uses students’ backgrounds, rendering of social experiences, prior knowledge, and learning styles in daily lessons. Teachers, as culturally responsive classroom managers, recognize their biases and values and reflect on how these influence their expectations for behavior and their interactions with students as well as what learning looks like. There is extensive research on traditional classroom management and a myriad of resources available on how to deal with behavior issues.

             Conversely, there is little research on CRCM, despite the fact that teachers who lack cultural competence often experience problems in this area

By: Mel Kathlyn C. Basilio | T-III | BATAAN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL City of Balanga, Bataan