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Benjamin Williams

Managing Learning Environments

Managing Learning Environments


Assignment 2 Essay
Benjamin Williams - 110085362
Introduction
Effectively managing the classroom environment is one of, if not the, most
important aspects of a teachers daily life. This monumental task begins prior to
the first day of school with the way the teacher sets up their classroom, to the
first day when they first meet their students and continues throughout the year.
The relationships built with students, the way rules and routines are developed,
the tasks and activities that are set, the classroom community that is built and
the way that unproductive behaviour is dealt with are just some of the ways that
the teacher manages the environment to provide optimal learning experiences.
Some see classroom management as simply controlling the students to behave
in ways that the teacher wants however this is simply not the case. Williams
(2013) writes that classroom management is a significant factor in the
enhancement of student development in the social, cognitive, behavioural and
emotional domains. Importantly, it plays a big part in developing students social
skills alongside their academic development.
This essay will provide the reader with an insight into the principles that I, as a
pre-service teacher, have developed throughout this course to guide the way I
manage learning environments in my future career. It was also outline the
approaches that I intend to adopt in the two main areas of classroom
management: prevention, through the promotion of productive behaviours, and
interventions, the management of unproductive behaviours that are inevitable in
any classroom.

Guiding principles

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Benjamin Williams

Managing Learning Environments

There are three main principles that I believe will inform the majority of my
actions to ensure that any classroom I am lucky enough to work in functions in a
way that promotes learning and values relationships. These have been
developed with the aid of the MLE course principles (Sullivan 2016), as well as
my own experiences as a pre-service teacher to date and are heavily
intertwined, with each principle influencing and influenced by the other
principles.
1. Relationships that are built on effective communication are highly
valued to ensure mutual respect and an optimal learning
environment. Build the relationship first and the learning will
follow.
2. The classroom should be a community where everybodys opinion
is heard and valued and where collaboration is always
encouraged. All students should feel safe and that their dignity is
preserved at all times.
3. The teacher shares power legitimately with students whilst
maintaining an authoritative approach.
The building of relationships is very important to me as a future educator and I
place this at the top of my principles for good reason. Throughout my experience
in schools I have observed the way that relationships effect students in both
positive and negative ways and it is clear to me that without a good relationship
with a student it will be very difficult to attain educational goals. The foundation
of a functional, reciprocal relationship is effective communication and this can be
a challenge for teacher in diverse classrooms with students of varying social and
academic competence. The onus is on the teacher to communicate in a way that
is suited to the varied needs of students and that is clear, respectful and shows a
level of care (Lyons, Ford & Arthur-Kelly 2011).
Groundwater-Smith, Ewing and Le Cornu (2015) suggest that a positive
classroom community has a direct influence on student learning outcomes.
Building a positive climate where students feel that they belong, are cared for,
happy and safe will have positive effects on their social, cognitive and emotional
development as well as reducing behavioural management issues.
The power-with approach is one that empowers students and encourages
collaborative work with students to fulfil goals rather than the negative powerover approach (Sullivan 2002). To share power with the students will allow them
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Benjamin Williams

Managing Learning Environments

to buy in to the classroom community and feel that they are valued and cared
for. Although students should be active participants in the decision making of the
class it is also vital that the teacher maintains an authoritative approach,
particularly in regards to unproductive behaviours. Teachers who show
leadership, maintain control and convey clear expectations to students are more
likely to be effective educators and maintain a productive learning environment
(Woolfolk & Weinstein 2006).

Approach to promoting productive behaviours


Engagement
Keeping students engaged in learning can be a challenge, particularly when the
teacher is catering for a diverse range of student needs and abilities. By
providing students with stimulating activities that encourage participation and
that develop the students competence, the teacher is promoting productive
behaviour and minimising disengaged, and thereby unproductive, behaviour
(McDonald 2013, p. 109).
Sullivan et al. (2014) tell us that student disengagement has more to do with
factors that can be controlled by the teacher than with factors within the
student. When looking at this statement through the 4S framework (Williams
2013), there are 3 factors there that can be manipulated to better engage
students: setting, systems and self (teacher). Although these factors could be
adapted as an intervention to combat unproductive behaviour, I would suggest
that these things should be included in the planning of a lesson so that the
students are so engaged in their work that off-task behaviour is avoided
altogether.
The teachers ability to develop and implement engaging, varied lessons that
consist of both interactive and participatory activities, as well as ensuring that
the lessons are culturally relevant to the entire class are characteristics that
have been identified as being desirable by Woolfolk and Weinstein (2006, p. 187)
and that promote productive learning behaviours.
Routines/class rules

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Benjamin Williams

Managing Learning Environments

It is important for teachers to begin the year by school year by establishing class
guidelines that establish what sort of behaviours are expected by the teacher of
students, by students of each other and also by the student of their teacher.
According to McDonald (2013), students find it easier to follow a rule if they are
aware of the rationale behind it. For this reason, it is imperative that guidelines
are developed with the students, not for them. Many students know from
experience the things that turn a classroom into a positive learning environment,
such as respect for others or one person speaks at a time, and quite often the
ideas they come up with will closely align to those of the teacher (McDonald
2013). Students are also more likely to follow the guidelines set out if they have
had an input into producing them, which is a perfect example of the power-with
approach to teaching.
Class routines are another aspect of preventative classroom management that
aim to limit the opportunities for off task behaviour. McDonald (2010) informs us
that class routines and procedures are most effective when they have been
carefully explained in the first week of school and the teacher explains why the
procedures are in place. As with class guidelines, the aim of developing and
implementing routines is to enhance the learning environment. Some common
routines include entering/leaving the room, where to hang bags, how to ask a
question, how to transition between activities and what to do in a fire drill. These
routines range from basic everyday occurrences (raise your hand to ask a
question) to uncommon but very important (what to do in a fire drill) but they are
all skills that need to be learned. While it may seem like common sense to an
adult to hang their bag on the hook provided or to say good morning as you
enter the room in the morning, these may be new experiences to reception
students or those new to the school. It is therefore vital that the teacher takes
the time to explain and model the expected behaviours and give students ample
opportunities to practice them.

Approach to managing unproductive behaviours


Academic vs social approach
Perhaps the most useful idea that I have taken from this course is the strategy
of approaching behavioural problems using an academic approach rather than a
social approach. This simply means treating a behavioural issue the same way
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Benjamin Williams

Managing Learning Environments

you would if the student was having an academic issue by analysing the
environment, identifying where the student may need help and providing them
with strategies to overcome the problem (Jones & Jones 2010). It is common for
teachers to make assumptions about students disruptive behaviour and respond
in a punitive manner, which are usually ineffective in the short-term, by
minimising the disruptive behaviour, and the long-term because students do not
learn any alternative responses. By viewing the disruptive behaviour through an
academic lens, the teacher can identify the skills that the student needs to
better develop to reduce future indiscretions and educate the student to
understand how their behaviour affects others in the class (Jones & Jones 2010).
Procedure to respond to disruptive behaviour
Jones and Jones (2010) outline a procedure for dealing with disruptive behaviour
that can be adapted to any classroom. This procedure involves first a non-verbal
cue to get the students attention and let them know that their behaviour has
been noticed by the teacher. If the non-verbal cue is ineffective, the teacher
should use a verbal cue, using the students name, to bring up the classroom
guideline that they are breaking. If ineffective, the next step is to inform the
student that, if their behaviour continues, they will be choosing to take time to
come up with a solution to the problem. This will ideally take place in the
classroom, perhaps in a designated area away from the rest of the class however
if the behaviour continues, as a last resort, the student may need to be removed
to come up with their solution under the supervision of another adult. For this
procedure to be effective the students will need to understand the process and
the steps involved, which can be achieved using role-play (Jones & Jones 2010).
I-messages
As alluded to earlier in this essay, communication is a vital part of everyday
classroom life for a teacher in developing and maintaining relationships to build a
classroom community and also as an intervention strategy. Specifically, the use
of I-messages to take ownership of a statement can be a powerful tool in
managing disruptive behaviour (Jones & Jones 2010). I-messages are effective for
confronting the behaviour of others because they convey how you feel, as well as
the behaviour that is causing you to feel this way and the effect the continued
behaviour has on you (Groundwater-Smith, Ewing & Le Cornu 2015). The use of Imessages is enhanced when there is a positive teacher-student relationship and
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Benjamin Williams

Managing Learning Environments

they should always be delivered one-on-one rather than in front of a group to


avoid the student feeling attacked or shamed.

Conclusion
Due to the complexities of the classroom environment and the diverse needs of
the individuals that make it up, teachers need to be equipped with a number of
tools to maintain a harmonious community to achieve teaching and learning
goals. By referring back to the MLE principles learnt throughout this course and
the principles I have developed for myself, and by using Williams 4S framework,
I certainly feel better prepared for life in the classroom than I did prior to
undertaking the MLE course. Through engaging with the course readings and
actively participating in the workshop activities and presentations I fell that I
have developed a number of strategies that I can draw on both to prevent
disruptive behaviours from occurring and interventions that I can apply if and
when disruptive behaviour does occur. Hopefully, by building relationships, a
collaborative classroom community and providing engaging content for my
students I will be able to achieve the social, emotional, and academic goals I set
out for my students.

Reference List
Groundwater-Smith, S, Ewing, R & Le, CR 2015, Teaching: challenges &
dilemmas, 5th edn, Cengage Learning Australia, South Melbourne, Victoria.

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Benjamin Williams

Managing Learning Environments

Jones, V. F., & Jones, L. S. (2010). Chapter 8 Responding to violations of rules and
procedures. Comprehensive classroom management: Creating communities of
support and solving problems, 9th edn, Upper Saddle, NJ: Merrill
Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2011). Chapter 3 Relationships and
communication. Classroom management: creating positive learning
environments, 3rd edn, South Melbourne, Vic: Cengage Learning.
McDonald, T 2010, Classroom management: engaging students in learning,
Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Vic
Sullivan, A 2002, Student empowerment in a primary school classroom: a
descriptive study, unpublished doctoral thesis, Edith Cowan University, Perth,
viewed 19 February 2016, <http://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=2069&context=theses>.
Sullivan, A 2016, Challenging dominant views on behaviour at school: Answering
back, EDUC 5182, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, 22 January.
Sullivan, A, Johnson, B, Owens, L & Conway, R 2014, Punish them or engage
them? Teacher's views on student behaviour around the school: behaviour at
school study: technical report 2, University of South Australia, Australia

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