Braydon Webb 17506769

Why do young people misbehave in school?

Braydon Webb

17506739

Introduction

An Australian study found that 39% of principals and teachers were reported to spend

around 20 percent of their day dealing with misbehaving children, which is 1 day in a 5-day

school week (Office of the Auditor General Western Australia, 2014). This alarming statistic

demonstrates the need to identify why young people misbehave in school, to help design

strategies to improve classroom behaviour. This report is going to investigate the reasons

why children misbehave in the classroom and compare it to the public opinion from

interviewing 6 people. Using the information obtained by the 6 participants in the

interviews, this report will look at the similarities in the 6 interviews and look to challenge

their opinions with current literature to help answer why young people misbehave.

Misbehaviour in a school environment can include students rudeness, confronting and

defiant behaviours, aggressive behaviour, bullying, taunting, swearing, distracted and not

focuses, refusal to work and lying or cheating (Roffey, 2011)

Section one:

This literature review will look at various studies to help define and identify the

determinants of why students misbehave in schools. The main concepts this literature

review will look at include teachers awareness of biological changes, teacher pedagogical

approaches and some policy changes.

Students go through rapid and extensive biological changes throughout secondary school.

This could help explain why some students misbehave in class. Mrug and colleague
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investigated whether puberty has an effect on problem behaviours in adolescent girls. They

found that from the physiological changes of hormones in the brain it leads young girls to

engage in problem behaviours more frequently (2014). Mrug also states that teenage

students are much more likely to engage in risky behaviours which could attribute to their

disengagement in class.

Teachers expectations and inability to gain respect may be reasons why students misbehave

in class. A research article by Demanet and Houtte investigates the impacts that low teacher

expectations have on students (2012). While most research on the effects of teachers

attitudes has dealt with students cognitive outcomes, this article looks at the behavioural

responses. They found that the teacher culture of student teachability influenced students

self-reported school misconduct. Schools with higher teachability culture (high

expectations) were less likely to show school misconduct. This provides insight into whether

teacher expectations impact on students misbehaviour. Seunghees article assesses the

perceptions of corporal punishment in schools (2014). The article discusses the effects of

corporal punishment being banned in schools, and the respect lost to teacher when they

cant use corporal punishment in schools. The article suggests that without serve

consequences students feel they can get away with misbehaving. Also Seunghee argues that

outlawing corporal punishment in schools, may give the false assumption that all students

respond to the same motivational and disciplinary methods which can explain why some

students still misbehave.

Policy change can also have an impact on students behaviour. Jackson debates student

misbehaviour is more prevalent in school then it was 20-30 years ago (Jackson, 1998).

Jackson debates this is due to extended length of years spent in school by students.
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Previously students who didnt have value for academia for one reason or another would

drop out of school and find a job. Students who now are more favourable of getting a trade

or find work are forced legally in Australian schools to stay in school until they are at least

17 (Department of Education, 2013).

Poor Pedagogy from the teacher is also seen as a major reason why students misbehave. In

a study by Carrington they used a students researchers model to examine the views of 120

students across four lower socioeconomic schools about disengagement in the classrooms

(2013). The 120 students agreed that if the content is to easy or too difficult they disengage

from the lesson and engage in inappropriate activities. Cothran and colleagues research

article looks at some of the attributions to student misbehaviour (2009). Their study found

that students got bored during class when subject matter had no meaningfulness to them.

They found the contrary that students are less likely to misbehave if subject matter is

meaningful and interesting (Cothran, 2009). The research article also found that student

misbehaviour in the classroom was also determined to some extent by their home lives. By

investigating this they found that this was related to students who were seeking attention

due to their lives at home (Cothran, 2009). Handcock & Zubrick refer to this as emotional

disengagement of school and can lead to misbehaving in the classroom (2015).

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Section two:
This report interviewed six anonymous participants from different walks of life. The

interviews were conducted in a relaxed environment and opened with the same question in

your opinion, why do you think young people misbehave in school?. After they would

answer the question, the interviewees would be encouraged to give a comprehensive

response by using opened ended questions to obtain a deeper understanding. For example

can you explain in more detail?, what makes you say that? Etc. The interviewees responses

were recorded by the interviewer. The interviewees included A female primary educator; A

male secondary educator; two pre service teachers (one male, one female); a female nurse

and one male parent were all interviewed. These participants were picked for the interview

to give a diverse response the hypothesis question. It is important for any study to try and

eliminate any bias from research which is why the 6 participants were all different in age,

sex, culture and differing professions. Each participant had to sign to an ethics form. The

table below highlights the similarities between the participants in the study.

Similarities in
Boring content
Upbringing/pa

problems e.g.
Policy change

answers using key

Expectations
Meaningless
punishment

Behavioural
No corporal

Content to

Content to

words
Biological
influence
Respect

content
difficult

effects

ADHD
rental

Easy

Low

Pre-service teacher x x x x x x x
(M)
Pre-service Teacher x x x x x x
(F)
Teacher secondary x x x x
(M)
Teacher primary (F) x x x x x x x x

Health professional x x x
(F)
Parent (M) x x x x

Table 1- Identifies the correlating themes between the 6 interviewees.

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The interviewees responses had many similarities across the six different participants. The

most key word which was talked about by the participants was the lack of respect students

have for their teachers. All 6 participants spoke of this lack of respect which all eluded from

different origins. 4 of the 6 participants spoke about how the origins of disrespect was

related to their upbringing at home while the other two linked their disrespect due to the

inability for teachers to have authority over students. The male preservice teacher explained

Without mutual respect and rapport in a classroom it is hard to manage a classroom. A

notable quote from the parent which was related to teachers inability to punish students

with the cane anymore so students feel they can misbehave without consequence. This view

was very contrast from all other 5 participants largely due to the age bracket.

Another similarity between participants was that the teachers strategies and pedagogy in

the classroom were poor for multiple reasons. Some included they were too difficult, or not

challenging which lead to conversation about the low expectations of teachers. The 2

current teachers, and pre-serviced teachers all shares these opinions. All 6 participants gave

example of a teacher from their past who were terrible teachers from not knowing content

knowledge or the inability to control a class. All six participants agreed at some point of

their interview sometimes students disengage in lesson content because they dont find the

lesson interesting. One participant gave personal experience in relation to math were they

thought the subject was boring and had no relevance to them which lead to talkative and

disruptive behaviour. Only the primary educator spoke of social problems with students

which may lead to misbehaving at school. She eluded this to being trained at university as

social problems are a big issue in primary school.

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Section three:

After looking at the findings in the interviews we can see a correlation between the

literature review and the opinions of the 6 interviewees. The Two pre-serviced teachers and

two current teachers all had the opinion that low expectations have an impact on students

misbehaving. All four spoke about how they would Always have high expectations to

ensure students think they value their academic levels. Demanet and Houtte investigation

into the negative impact low expectations have on students (2012) reinforces their

perspective on the effects of low expectations. Another teacher based issue that contributes

to classroom misbehaviour is the teachers pedagogy. As mention above all participants

spoke of boring or no relevance to the classroom content. This correlates with Cothrans

study (2009) that content need to be relevant to students and needs to be fun and

interesting. It is the teachers role to ensure students find their knowledge interesting and

all lesson should incorporate practical application framework.

One of the largest differences was the opinion on the need for school to have corporal

punishment in school. The parent in the study even gave first-hand accounts of how scared

students would be of being punished by the cane. This is very contrast to the other 5

participants. Seunghees (2014) argument actually supported the view of the parent

highlighting that all students learn differently and different consequences drive students.

For example, students may engage in class due to the fear of not succeeding in life while

other may need punishment to keep them in line which may explain why some students

misbehave. An interesting interpretation to the interview was looking at how policy change

has occurred over the years on school attendance. The parents highlighted that in their day

students who didnt want to be at school could leave and find a job as early as 14. This
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would remove students who arent academically driven and create more supportive

environments in classrooms as most students would be motivated the same way. This was

an interesting finding and was supported by Jackson comparing misbehaviour from now and

30 years ago (1998). It is common that generations have different views on political topics

such as education, this helps to explain why the parent had such contrasting views on why

students misbehave in schools.

A biological view was expressed by only two of the participants in the study. They both

believed that the changes that occur to students cause them to become more social in the

classroom and are much more likely to engage in disruptive behaviour. This correlated with

Mrugs study that students are more likely to misbehave during puberty. While this was

identified only the primary educator spoke of behavioural disorders such as ADHA. 1-20

students will be diagnosed with such a conditions which has a direct impact on their

behaviour during class (Raising Children Network, 2013).

Section Four:

As a teacher it is important to know what will cause students to engage in inappropriate

behaviours in the classroom. The previous sections have compared the 6 interviewees

perspectives to the broader research to clarify why students misbehave. By identifying

various reasons why students misbehave it is important for teachers to use this to become

more aware to improve personal practice in schools.

Teachers should be aware of the biological changes that occur during the onset of puberty.

Students change and as stated above become more disruptive in class (Mrug, 2014).
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Teachers should also ensure they are aware of any medical conditions which may affect

their behaviour in class. This can be done by simply having conversations with colleagues

about students, or talking to students parents. Being aware of this will ensure time is take

to deal with these particular students and create the best environment for them as possible.

Teachers need to be aware not all students are motivated in the same way (Seunghee,

2014). Typical teachers have a biased view as they value education, but not all people share

the same view.

Teachers need to ensure their practice is suited to the class and individuals they will be

teaching. The teacher need to ensure the difficulty of the work being taught isnt beyond

the students or beneath the students (Damanet & Houtte, 2012). As identified students are

likely to disengage from class lessons if the content is too hard or not hard enough. This

content also needs to be meaningful to the students (Cothran, 2009). This can be achieved

by using a practical application method by always ensuring to show how the information can

be practically applied. Teachers need to ensure their lessons are fun and exciting and use

variety of teaching methods to ensure all students feel engaged with the content. Rules

should be set at the beginning of a term and referred to every lesson to ensure the teacher

gets the respect from the students.

Conclusion

This report as investigated the question Why do students misbehave in school. It has

investigated this with first hand research and then compared it to the overviewing literature

on the topic to gain a deep understanding into some of the reasons students misbehave.

From the research and current literature, the report identifies what teachers should be
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aware of in their classroom and what they as a teacher can do to their own practice to

minimise the chances of students misbehaving in school.

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