Assignment Management Plan

David Johnson (6041362)

EDU4230 Classroom Management Plan
In a society where people with money and power control the world, there are few
things in life where individuals get the opportunity to touch and change the lives
of others. Luckily, through one of the most important aspects of a persons life,
education, we as teachers get the unique opportunity to shape a students wants
and needs and encourage them in order for the students to flourish. As a
teacher, I feel the best method to approaching children is through a democratic
environment. This ensures that the views and attitudes of both the students and
the educator can help shape a positive learning environment. Alfie Kohns theory
of students and educators working together to develop respectful relationships,
and using the classroom as a learning community are essential in effective
learning. When it comes to classroom management, the role of the teacher and
importance on classroom instruction go hand in hand in the success of the
learner. Educators must establish a safe learning environment that encourages
students to want to succeed. This needs to not only be of physical safety, but
emotional and psychological too.
There are many desirable and undesirable behaviour problems that can occur in
classrooms. These transcend nearly every classroom in the world. Students that
are unengaged, inattentive or disruptive are all factors which can affect not only
individuals but the entire classrooms ability to learn. Whilst these seem too
common of an occurrence in classrooms, morally unacceptable behaviour can
also occur (things like lying, cheating, bullying) and these need to be addressed
through a democratic nature. It is in their individual nature, that all students
require different approaches to this. No child is the same and as such a teacher,
whilst adopting the same beliefs, should have the ability to adapt and change
their approach accordingly. Through Rudolph Dreikurs method of logical
consequences for their actions (McDonald, 2010), the child can learn to change
their behaviour from negative towards positive.
The one thing that teachers and educators must strive to seek is the answer to
why children/students misbehave. Through the work of Alfred Adler, Rudolph
Dreikurs produced his own theories of democratic teaching. He believed that
students misbehave due to a feeling of inferiority, or lacking a sense of
belonging to the classroom (McDonald, 2010 Pg. 87). This causes the child to
change their role as a positive learner and begin to misbehave through seeking
attention, trying to gain power, exacting revenge on those around them and
even gain sympathy. I believe that if teachers can learn about these four
mistaken goals and what to do when they occur, this will be one hugely
beneficial step towards classroom management.
As educators, we must be aware that all children have the positive potential to
learn and there are ways to manage this. William Glasser, a major theorist in the
interactionist, or democratic view on teaching, states that a child only needs five
basic needs to be met in the classroom in order for the behaviour of that student

to be acceptable and positive (Charles, 1992.). Through survival, belonging,

power, freedom and fun in a democratic environment, the students should feel
free to express themselves. I feel strongly that with an educators
encouragement and meeting of these needs they can really help the students to
succeed despite the risk of failure.
The theories behind ways of managing classroom behaviour that really
intrigued and appealed to me as a person and educator were in the democratic
way a classroom is run. A society should operate on the assumption that
everyone (in regards to both educator and student) gets an equal opinion on how
things will run. The democratic view of teaching is neither autocratic nor
permissive. Democratic teachers provide firm guidance and leadership by
establishing rules and consequences. They motivate students from within
(Charles, 1992, Pg.64). This idea of establishing rules and consequences is
something I feel strongly about and Rudolph Dreikurs theories state some
extremely positive and beneficial steps in helping to do so in a classroom
environment. Dreikur believed that by establishing a classroom where decisions
and the rules are determined by both the teacher and the students, then this will
promote self discipline and in turn, they will realise the consequences for their
actions.
It involves allowing students freedom to choose their own behaviour.
They can do this because they understand exactly what consequences will follow
any behaviour chosen. Good behaviour brings rewards, poor behaviour always
brings undesired consequences. (Charles, 1992, Pg.63)
This method of the students establishing and understanding the rules of the
classroom is not only a fantastic way for them to be self motivated/disciplined,
but provides a great learning tool for the way in which we should behave in
society too. The students are taught that while we all have the potential to
misbehave, there will always be an unwanted outcome.
Another important key theory that affects the way in which children behave is
Dreikurs theory on mistaken goals. This goes on the belief that all students
want to have a place in the classroom and will inevitably try different socially
acceptable and unacceptable ways to get it. If the student is struggling to
receive positive recognition, then he or she will resort to negative means in order
to succeed. Attention getting, power seeking, revenge seeking and displaying
inadequacy are all different means the student will attempt to vie for acceptance
in the classroom. Dreikurs categorised these into four mistaken goals, which go
in progressive order. These students are trying to seek proof of acceptance
through what they can get others to give them (Charles, 1992, Pg.65). This is
why it is so important to make each child feel like they have a sense of belonging
in the classroom environment. By being aware, as educators, of the different
mistaken goals a child will display if this is not the case, we can rectify the
situation before it progresses to the next stage.
A theorist who I feel plays another crucial role in positive classroom management
is William Glasser and his theories that all students want to belong, in one way or

another. This goes hand in hand with Dreikurs theory above, but gives a further
understanding of what exactly the student desires. This sense of belonging
stems from Glassers belief that a child only needs to have five basic needs met
in order to best achieve control over individuals in a classroom. Survival,
belonging, power, fun and freedom are all areas that fill us with pleasure if met
and frustration when not and as educators we have the opportunity to meet all,
but survival, intimately. Glasser is adamant in his contention that education that
does not give those needs top priority is bound to fail (Charles, 1992, Pg.117).
What Glasser is getting at, is if we as educators can harness the ability to meet
these needs with utmost importance for our classroom, then children have the
potential to work at a better skill level and produce a better quality of learning.
The final theorist that I feel is significantly important in a positive democratic
classroom is Alfie Kohn and his views on a positive classroom environment. His
theory states that the classroom should be a learning community in which
students and teachers work together to solve problems and develop strong,
respectful relationships. By encouraging the students to work together, they can
utilise learning through a deeper level of thinking (McDonald, 2010). This
These theories are all vitally important in understanding what is needed for an
affective classroom management plan. By understanding the reasoning by why
children behave the way they do, we can begin to break them down into a series
of affective practises to improve the way a classroom will run.
One of the first crucial steps, I feel, in managing classroom behaviour is to create
a code of conduct. To set out a clear understanding of what is expected of the
students and also the teacher in the classroom. These expectations of the
classroom can really help the students identify what they would like to get out of
class and also helps to reaffirm them in times of need. Dreikur himself believed
that a student will benefit immensely out of establishing rules and consequences
and this is can be done easily within a classroom or even a school setting.
A useful guide here is to focus on the values and principles that the class
can operate under. Once the value or principle is known, then the description of
what that value looks like in the class can be developed. (McDonald, 2010 Pg.
111)
The students work together to create these classroom values. The code of
conduct can be discussed with the students in a democratic environment to
reaffirm that the students understand certain aspects, such as safety or
accountability, and are aware of what these entail. Whilst this is not a full-proof
method of ensuring these are always going to be met, the code of conduct sets
room to provide a higher quality of work because of the teachers high, but
reasonable, expectations.
Another crucial step in practising good classroom management is to build up a
rapport with the students. A great relationship between teacher and student is
one of the best preventative measures in ensuring misbehaviour. A classroom
that is safe, comfortable and gives students a sense of belonging is key to

ensuring positive behaviour. While there is no set way of going about this,
Glassers theory on meeting the five needs of a child is a good start. Though
survival may be a hard need to fulfil in a school environment, a sense of
belonging is easy to set in place by giving each student the opportunity to
A strong, learning community in the classroom is definitely an invaluable step in
controlling misbehaviour. Engaging the students in work that is fun and gives
them the opportunity to express their knowledge and personalities not only fulfils
two of Glassers five basic needs (freedom and fun) but encourages the students
to work together which is a crucial skill to use later on in life. As Kohn believes,
the idea of constructing a learning environment where a deeper level of thinking
occurs is going to create the opportunity for students to feel engaged in their
learning.
As Dreikurs points out, every student has the ability to misbehave, and using the
four mistaken goals he has identified, we as educators can look out for the
warning signs and be quick to resolve any issues that occur. One way to do this is
to gage our own responses to student misbehaviour. If I am feeling annoyed or
threatened but a student, then this is a sign of attention or power seeking
behaviour signs. If I am feeling hurt or powerless towards the child then this is
the last two of the progressive goals and shows the student is seeking revenge
or displaying signs of inadequacy. Another way to identify the signs is by the
students attitudes towards me. Disruptive behaviour, such as continual
misbehaviour, shows signs of attention seeking and so on. Once these have
been identified, then the next step is to discuss the misbehaviour with the
student. By doing this in a friendly, nonthreatening way, teachers can usually
get students to examine the purposes behind their behaviour (Charles, 1992, Pg.
67). This gives the student an opportunity to express the reasons behind the
action in self reflection and provides the teacher with a chance to implement a
change in action to target the misbehaviour.
Without positive encouragement in the classroom, there is little chance that
students are going to strive to do well. Dreikur believed that encouragement was
a crucial element in preventing the misbehaviour of students. Encouragement is
a great technique for making the child feel self satisfied on the belief that they
are participating and recognising their effort, rather than their achievements
(Charles, 1992). Dreikur was insistent that this differs greatly from praise and
creates intrinsic, or internal motivation, rather than an expectation of praise from
a task. As an educator, by being positive and encouraging towards students, not
only are you portraying that it is about improvement and not perfection, youre
making the child realise that it is the continual learning that is important and not
necessarily the final product. This self satisfaction will really help to control
misbehaviour in a classroom situation.
References:

Charles, C.M. (1992). Building classroom discipline (4th ed.). New York :
Longman.

McDonald, T. (2010). Classroom Management: Engaging Students in

Learning. Victoria: Oxford