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 person’s life, education, we as teachers get the unique
opportunity to shape a student’s 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 Kohn’s 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 classroom’s 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 educator’s 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 Glasser’s 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,
Glasser’s 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

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, you’re 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: