CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Classroom Management



Classroom Management

Introduction

Classroom management refers to the teacher's ability to direct, organize, and facilitate the learning environment and student behavior within a learning context. How a teacher organizes and designs instruction and how he or she motivates and engages students influence curriculum and learning. Several factors that influence the progressive and proactive management of a classroom's learning environment and student behavior are described in this entry.

Discussion

Open education and open space education are not conceptually or practically equivalent. Open education describes a way of thinking about and organizing the classroom. Open space education deals more with the actual structural attributes of the school. True, there are definite connections between the two educational concepts, but they are not mutually inclusive. That is, a teacher could be practicing open education in a very architecturally traditional classroom with four walls and a chalkboard at the front of the classroom. A teacher could also be practicing a very traditional teacher-centered instruction in an open space school. In essence, the school's architecture or design does not dictate whether the program would be described as either traditional-formal or open-informal. (Canter, 2006)

Many educational reformers embraced open education because they saw in the approach an ability to create educational environments that draw on the natural interests of the child. They asserted, often without any real evidence, that children would not only evidence more positive attitudes about school but they would also feel better about themselves and perform better academically. Research does not support these types of assertions, especially regarding academic achievement. In fact, research would suggest that although children in open classrooms often have positive attitudes toward themselves and others, they evidence no enhanced self-esteem or academic performance. Some researchers did find that children from particular types of socioeconomic backgrounds benefited in terms of their self-concepts in open environments, but equally true is the fact that some researchers have found that students from high-poverty environments often benefit most significantly from highly teacher-structured approaches. (Marzano, Pickering, 2003)

Managing the Learning Environment

There is much to think about when arranging the classroom environment, arranging includes not only the room, but also other contexts such as the media center, computer laboratory, and even places where field trips take place.

Beginning with the arrangement of desks and the creation of bulletin boards on classroom walls, the teacher manages curriculum and learning. A cramped classroom may cause friction among students. Ample space is needed for each student to promote respectful interactions. Aligning desks in rows will dissuade student interactions and collaborative learning, whereas groups of desks arranged together will promote conversations among students. When students' work is posted, they understand that it is valued. (Charney, 2002)

Results of the empirical research on open education are mixed and much of the conceptual work is ideological. Those advocating for open structures believe that children learn best by pursuing their own interests and making their own choices. Allow the child the freedom to learn and the child will make a decision that is both personally satisfying and educationally ...