Teaching and Teacher Education 46 (2015) 94e103

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Teaching and Teacher Education

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tate

Teachers' experiences of effective strategies for managing classroom

misbehavior in Hong Kong
Rachel C.F. Sun*
Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

h i g h l i g h t s

Effective strategies control student behavior while nurturing responsibility.

A trustworthy relationship cultivates students' positive behavioral changes.

Instructional engagement thwarts misbehavior.

Effective strategies integrate discipline, guidance and teaching elements.

Deeply-rooted Confucian values are reflected in Hong Kong classroom management.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study interviewed twelve teachers to examine their perceptions of effective strategies for managing
Received 14 May 2014 classroom misbehavior in Hong Kong. Results showed seven effective strategies (rules-setting, hinting,
Received in revised form directive statements, punishment, after class talks, relationship building, and instructional engagement)
11 November 2014
to (i) control student behavior while nurturing students' responsibility for managing one's behavior, (ii)
Accepted 18 November 2014
Available online
forge a good relationship conducive to cultivating student trust and positive behavioral changes, and (iii)
engage the students in learning which in turn thwarts misbehavior. The findings reflected the deeply-
rooted Chinese Confucian values, and highlighted an integration of discipline, guidance and teaching
Keywords:
Classroom management strategies
strategies for effective classroom management.
Behavior management © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Student misbehavior
Teachers' experiences

1. Introduction arrange classroom environments and physical structure (Kayikci,

2009). Therefore, teachers' classroom management strategies are
Classroom misbehavior is defined as unruly behavior which closely linked to student behavior (Allen, 2010). According to Little
upsets classroom order and hampers teaching and learning and Akin-Little (2008), effective classroom discipline and man-
(Houghton, Wheldall, & Merrett, 1988; Little, 2005; Thompson, agement includes strategies that are “not merely responding
2009; Wheldall & Merrett, 1988). It is also regarded as disruptive effectively when problems occur, but also preventing problems
behavior that breaks the rules (e.g., truancy, violence) or violates from occurring by creating environments that encourage learning
the implicit norms or expectations of classroom behavior (e.g., non- and appropriate behavior” (p. 227). Several commonly-used stra-
attentiveness, clowning), requiring teacher intervention (Sun & tegies and their effectiveness are reviewed below.
Shek, 2012a, 2012b). Students are more likely to engage in misbe-
havior when teachers are less able to manage disruptive behavior,
recognize student characteristics and needs, maintain teachere- 1.1. Strategies for managing misbehavior
student relationships and communication, apply teaching pro-
cesses and motivation, set up classroom rules and apply them, and 1.1.1. Punishment
Studies have shown that a high percentage of teachers use
punishment and reprimand, with the main purposes of deterrence
and control (e.g., Lewis, Romi, Qui, & Katz, 2005), particularly when
* Tel.: þ852 3917 8376; fax: þ852 2517 0075. dealing with severely disruptive misbehavior (Bibou-Nakou,
E-mail address: rachels@hku.hk. Kiosseoglou, & Stogiannidou, 2000; Castello, Gotzens, Badia, &

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.11.005
0742-051X/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 R.C.F. Sun / Teaching and Teacher Education 46 (2015) 94e103 95

Genovard, 2010; Kulinna, 2007e2008). While punishment can have was found to enhance teacherestudent relationships, and thus
an immediate effect by impeding student disruptive behavior, it has facilitate students' liking school, endorsing classroom rules, and
been argued that punishment can hardly reduce the likelihood of autonomy in behaving accordingly, and ultimately reducing class-
the recurrence of such behavior in the long-run (Wong, 2004), room misbehavior and disruption. Actually, teacher care is a kind of
because it inhibits the responsibility of each student to manage personal quality pertinent in guiding student development (Hui &
their own behavior (Roache & Lewis, 2011). Cameron (2006) also Lo, 1997). Hence, these studies indicated that discipline together
noted that the benefits of using punishment may be offset by its with care facilitates students' internalization of the rules and rule-
negative impacts on the teacherestudent relationship, learning, biding behavior.
and student psychological well-being, which further increase
behavioral and academic problems. Furthermore, punishment only
suppresses the problem behavior for a short time, and can hardly 1.1.5. After class talks
address the students' underlying needs and the root causes of the Talking and discussing their behavior with misbehaving stu-
manifestations of misbehavior (Dreikurs, 2004). When compared dents privately after class was found to be another effective strategy
with punishment, “planned ignoring” (extinction of social atten- for enhancing student responsibility for regulating their own
tion) was perceived to be more effective for handling minor behavior and making positive changes after they understand the
disruptive and attention-seeking behavior (such as playing the impact of their behavior on others (Lewis, 2001; Roache & Lewis,
clown) (Bibou-Nakou et al., 2000; Broussard & Northup, 1997). 2011; Zuckerman, 2007). It implied a private conversation should
be constructive in guiding a student to reflect on his or her own
1.1.2. Praise problems, develop prosocial skills and values, and choose to behave
Praise and social recognition are positive reinforcers of good in socially acceptable ways. Teachers pointed out that talking to
behavior (Skinner, 1938), and a high percentage of teachers have individual pupils after class was more effective with upper grade
reported using this positive approach in managing student students (Ding et al., 2010).
behavior (Ding, Li, Li, & Kulm, 2010; Little & Akin-Little, 2008).
Some studies demonstrated that when teachers used more 1.1.6. Instructional interactions
behavioral praise and less reprimand, classroom disruptive Based on observational findings (Ratcliff, Jones, Costner, Savage-
behavior was reduced (Myers, Simonsen, & Sugai, 2011; Reinke, Davis, & Hunt, 2010), students were more engaged in learning and
Herman, & Stormont, 2012; Reinke, Lewis-Palmer, & Merrell, less likely to misbehave when teachers had more interaction with
2008). For elementary students, utilizing peer recognition is their students regarding instructional matters. In contrast, students
another promising strategy. For instance, in the “tootling” inter- misbehaved more frequently if teachers had fewer interactions
vention where Grade 3 students were asked to recognize and with them, and the misbehavior increased when teachers retreated
reinforce each other's positive behavior, Cihak, Kirk, and Boon in frustration after failing to control student misbehavior. Djigic and
(2009) found that the students displayed more prosocial Stojiljkovic (2011) also found that an interactionist classroom
behavior, less disruptive behavior and better relationships. How- management style, rather than an interventionist or non-
ever, it was argued that using praise solely was not an effective interventionist style, was positively related to teachers' and stu-
approach (Pfiffner, Rosen, & O'Leary, 1985), unless there were dents' satisfaction with the classroom climate and the students'
explicit rules plus a system for reinforcing appropriate behavior achievements in school. Moreover, some research initiatives
and responding to classroom disruption (Canter & Canter, 2001; demonstrated that proactive strategies (i.e., improving instruc-
Little & Akin-Little, 2008). Moreover, praise should be given as tional methods, increasing engagement in classroom activity)
positive and constructive feedback, with a ratio of 4:1 positive to worked well with behavioral control strategies (i.e., formulating
negative feedback for supporting students' positive behavior and behavioral expectations, reinforcing positive performance) in pro-
learning (Trussell, 2008). moting student positive behavior and academic competence, while
at the same time reducing discipline problems (Anderson &
1.1.3. Hinting Kincaid, 2005; Luiselli, Putman, Handler, & Feinberg, 2005;
Non-verbal to verbal discipline strategies, such as looking, Reinke et al., 2012).
naming and questioning (Zuckerman, 2007), which are referred to
“hinting” methods, were reported to have disciplinary function by
both teachers and students (Zeki, 2009). According to the teacher 1.1.7. Referral
behavior continuum (Canter & Canter, 2001), teacher control is Referring disruptive students to professionally trained
minimized while student responsibility for controlling one's own personnel (such as counselors, social workers and psychologists)
behavior is maximized when teachers give minimal modality cues. for consultation is common in schools where this back-up system is
Therefore, hinting was found to be effective for guiding students to explicit for supporting teachers and students. Research findings
regulate their own behavior in accordance with classroom norms, showed that there were more referrals for aggressive behavior in
as well as maintaining good teacherestudent relationships which younger students, whereas there were more for noncompliance
further facilitated student cooperation and engagement (Lewis, and disrespectful behavior in middle school students (Kaufman
2001; Roache & Lewis, 2011). et al., 2010; Skiba, Peterson, & Williams, 1997). Research findings
also pointed out that teachers having less confidence in managing
1.1.4. Behavioral control and teacher care student behavior, or having insufficient professional skills in
Besides setting up clear expectations and consequences at the guiding students with severe behavioral problems (such as hyper-
early stage, students also rated highly, as an effective classroom activity or delinquency) were more likely to refer students to other
management strategy, having good teacherestudent relationships school personnel (Arbuckle & Little, 2004; Martin, Linfoot, &
that were signified by care and respect (Cothran, Kulinna, & Stephenson, 1999). In short, referral is a school-level support for
Garrahy, 2003). Research showed that a classroom characterized teachers, to help manage student misbehavior, though its effec-
by both teacher care and behavioral control significantly enhanced tiveness in helping disruptive students needs to be supported by
student engagement and satisfaction with school, and reduced multiple evidence, such as the recidivism rate, behavioral assess-
classroom misbehavior (Nie & Lau, 2009). Particularly, teacher care ments and systematic observation.
96 R.C.F. Sun / Teaching and Teacher Education 46 (2015) 94e103

1.2. Managing student behavior in Hong Kong classrooms behavior, moral values and character development, when they are
enforcing rules with punishment and praise.
There have been voluminous research studies showing common
or effective disciplinary strategies for managing student behavior. 1.2.2. Hong Kong education policies regarding student guidance
However, many of them were quantitative studies and conducted in and discipline
Western cultural contexts (e.g., Lewis et al., 2005), with only a few Since 1990, corporal punishment has been prohibited, and an
conducted in Chinese cultural contexts (e.g., Ding et al., 2010). integrated framework of guidance and discipline has been promoted
Hence, whether these strategies are effective in managing class- in schools by the Education Bureau (formerly named Education
room misbehavior across different cultural contexts is question- Department) in Hong Kong (Education Bureau, 2014). With the
able. More importantly, there is a dearth of qualitative research adoption of the whole school approach to guidance (Education
exploring how the teachers feel, and accounting for the usefulness Commission, 1990), all teachers in a school are encouraged to
of the strategies they applied daily in the classroom. Therefore, the actively participate in guiding students' whole person development,
present study intended to carry out a qualitative study in Hong and to work collaboratively to support students in need (Hui, 2000).
Kong, where the student management strategies are influenced by Teachers acknowledge that discipline means more than rule and
Chinese cultural values, Western ideas, and local education policies. control, and individualized guidance is equally important. Teachers
are now more ready to spend time after class to give personal
1.2.1. Chinese culture and Western influences guidance to students, and to identify and refer students in need to
Hong Kong is modern Chinese society where the deeply-rooted professionally trained counseling teachers, social workers and
Confucian collectivistic culture meets with the Western ideas of educational psychologists according to the school referral system.
learning and child-rearing. In school, the teacherestudent relation- In 1999, the Education Bureau further proposed the educative
ship is characterized by hierarchical roles and responsibilities under approach to discipline, with the aim of developing students' self-
Confucian culture. Teachers are authority figures, and students are discipline and responsibility in behavioral actions (Education
expected to show obedience and respect to their teachers. Teacher- Bureau, 2014). The Education Bureau highly recommended some
centered pedagogy dominates classroom teaching in which students strategies for increasing student engagement in school and thus
are expected to be quiet and attentive when a teacher is teaching, reducing misbehavior, e.g., involving students in classroom partici-
while being involved in the lessons and self-disciplined when joining pation; enabling students to understand the importance of rules,
in classroom activities. In the collectivistic classroom, discipline and internalize acceptable behavior, and regulate themselves; and
order are highly valued, and so is conformity. Teachers commonly developing good relationships with fellow students for fostering a
adopted the punitive and authoritarian discipline approaches to sense of belonging to the school. The overarching goal is to integrate
ensure student compliance and teacher control (Cheung & Lau, discipline, guidance and teaching to manage student misbehavior.
1985). In light of the Confucian values, teachers also act as role
models to earn student respect and mold student behavior. 1.2.3. The present study
On the other hand, Ho (2001) showed that Hong Kong Chinese Although there have been only scanty research studies con-
teachers were not completely authoritarian, because they also ducted in Chinese contexts, particularly in Hong Kong, the existing
adopted some student-centered strategies in managing student research findings have shown that Hong Kong Chinese teachers,
problems, for instance, spending time with students personally, like their Western counterparts, commonly used punishment,
listening to their problems, and providing choices for them to hinting, after class talks, and referrals in managing student
choose from. In another study, Hue (2010) pointed out that the misbehavior. Nevertheless, Hong Kong teachers might have their
behavior management strategies of Hong Kong Chinese teachers own unique rationales for using these strategies, due to cultural
were composed of both care and control, because a majority of influences and local education policies. Moreover, the choices of
teachers revealed that they usually encouraged students' self- classroom management strategies might also vary with the indi-
discipline and proper conduct instead of simply stopping misbe- vidual teachers' judgment of what counted as misbehavior and
havior. The fact is, besides being a strict teacher, a Chinese teacher what accounted for such misbehavior. It is valuable to explore the
also assumes a parental role and moral responsibility for teaching effective strategies Hong Kong teachers used when they reported
and guiding good student behavior under the Chinese aphorism that talking out of turn and non-attentiveness were the most
“rearing without education is the fault of the father, teaching common forms of student misbehavior, and disobedience and
without strictness is the negligence of the teacher” (Ho, 2001). rudeness were the most unacceptable in the classroom (Sun &
Moreover, with the Chinese beliefs “spare the rod and spoil the Shek, 2012b). They usually attributed these forms of misbehavior
child” and “praise enervates but criticism builds character”, Chinese to the student faults of seeking fun, pleasure and attention, rather
teachers tend to show more disapproval of student misbehavior than non-student factors (such as boring lessons) being the causes
(via scolding and punishment) rather than approval of good contributing to the student misbehavior (Sun, 2014b). Furthermore,
behavior (via praise and recognition). However, with the influx of the Hong Kong classroom is typically characterized by a large class
theories of learning and concepts of child-rearing from the West, size, with a teacher-student ratio ranging from 1:30 to 1:45, and
Chinese teachers are inclined to accept that praise and recognition thus student characteristics (e.g., ability, learning motivation, psy-
are a positive reinforcement of desirable behavior (Skinner, 1938), chological needs, and personality) are diverse within a given
and that students need positive reinforcement to behave well and classroom. Under these objective demands, teachers usually have
maintain self-worth (Dreikurs, 2004). A study showed that their own classroom management strategies for coping with stu-
elementary school teachers in mainland China commonly praised dent misbehavior. Therefore, the present study is a qualitative
good students and perceived it to be an effective discipline strategy, research study that aimed to describe and examine teachers' sub-
while the middle and high school teachers preferred hinting (Ding jective perceptions of and experiences with effective ways of
et al., 2010). The study also showed that Chinese teachers focused managing student misbehavior in Hong Kong. This study intended
on cultivating prosocial moral values and guiding students toward to address the following research questions:
making proper behavioral choices whenever the teachers showed
approval or disapproval (Ding et al., 2010). It further highlighted (1) What strategies used by the teachers were effective in
that Chinese teachers have a strong responsibility to guide student managing student behavior?
Table 1
Teachers' self-reported effective strategies for managing classroom misbehavior.

Teacher Gender Years Grade Rules- Hinting Directive Punishment After class talks Relationship Instructional Referral
of teaching levels setting statements building engagement
experiences taught

Miss F 22 G11, 12 *
Chatting
Using mobile phone
Chatting

Chan
Fighting

Non-punctuality
Mr. Li M 7 G7, 8, *
Non-engagement
Rudeness
Chatting
Non-engagement
Non-engagement
9, 10
Tardiness
Miss F 4 G8, 9, *
Eating
Using mobile phone
Cheung 11, 12
Out of seat

Non-submission
Miss F 6 G10, 12 *
Rudeness
Non-punctuality
Rudeness
Rudeness
Wong
Playing
Having emotional
Bullying

Speaking foul language problems

Vandalism
Mr. Ho M 15 G11, 12
Rudeness
Sleeping
Playing truancy

Speaking foul language

Bullying

R.C.F. Sun / Teaching and Teacher Education 46 (2015) 94e103

Mr. Ng M 1 G9, 10, 12
Attention-seeking
Attention-seeking
Copying
Lacking learning

Chatting
Chatting homework motivation

Doing something
privately in class
Mr. Yeung M 20 G7, 8,
Chatting
Chatting
Chatting
Having emotional
9, 11
Doing something problems
privately in class
Lacking learning interest

Sleeping
Miss F 4 G7, 8, 9 *
Eating
Eating
Eating
Eating
Chow
Reading irrelevant
Reading irrelevant
Reading irrelevant
Reading irrelevant
books books books books

Chatting
Chatting
Chatting
Chatting

Non-attentiveness
Non-attentiveness
Non-attentiveness
Non-attentiveness
Miss Ting F 10 G7, 10 *
Sleeping
Sleeping
Sleeping
Persistent
Persistent

Talking out of turn
Talking out of turn
Talking out of turn forgetfulness forgetfulness

Playing
Playing
Playing
Mr. Fung M 7 G9, 10,
Chatting
Hatting
Chatting
Lacking learning
Having behavioral
11, 12
Non-attentiveness interest problems

Lacking learning
motivation
Miss Chu F 9 G7, 8, 9
Chatting
Chatting
Sleeping
Chatting
Having behavioral and

Sleeping cognitive problems

Non-attentiveness
Miss F 6 G7, 8, 9, *
Sleeping
Sleeping
Sleeping
Chatting
Sleeping
Wan 10, 11
Non-attentiveness
Non-attentiveness
Non-attentiveness
Non-attentiveness
Non-attentiveness

Reading irrelevant
Reading irrelevant
Reading irrelevant
Reading irrelevant books
books books books
Drawing

Drawing
Drawing
Drawing
Doing homework

Doing homework
Doing homework
Doing homework of other lesson
of other lesson of other lesson of other lesson
Using mobile phone

Using mobile
Using mobile phone
Using mobile phone
Disobedience
phone
Disobedience
Disobedience
Rudeness

Disobedience
Rudeness
Rudeness
Having emotional

Rudeness problems
Total 7 7 9 10 10 3 4 6
response

Note. * Using rules-setting for managing classroom misbehavior.

97
98 R.C.F. Sun / Teaching and Teacher Education 46 (2015) 94e103

(2) Why these strategies were perceived to be effective from the statements in each transcript and across all twelve transcripts. To
perspective of the teachers? ensure the internal validation of the codes, the author checked their
adequacy with the original statements. To avoid researcher bias, the
2. Method codes and coding were checked by a colleague with fully qualified
research and teaching experience. We calculated the Cohen's kappa
This research paper reports a part of a qualitative study that inter-rater reliability (Cohen, 1960), which is considered to be a
aimed at examining teachers' and students' perceptions of class- superior measure of inter-rater reliability when comparing the
room misbehavior (Sun & Shek, 2012a; 2012b), teachers' and stu- simple percentage of agreement, Kappan, Scott's p, and Aickin's a
dents' attributions for classroom misbehavior (Sun, 2014b), and (Hsu & Field, 2003). The Cohen's kappa inter-rater reliability co-
teachers' experiences of effective strategies for handling misbe- efficients showed the level of agreement between the two raters
havior (this paper). This was a small-scale qualitative study that was on the high side. In addition, the author systematically docu-
depicted the phenomenon of classroom misbehavior, and acted as mented the data analysis processes as an audit trail in order to
the pilot study for a larger-scale longitudinal mixed-method enhance the quality of the research.
research project studying the predictors of student misbehavior
(Sun, 2014a), and comparing teachers' and students' views of 3. Results
misbehavior in Hong Kong.
Based on the data from the interviews, the author identified
2.1. Participants eight salient strategies for managing student behavior, including
rules-setting, hinting, directive statements, punishment, after class
A maximum variation sample of 12 secondary school teachers in talks, relationship building, instructional engagement, and referral
Hong Kong voluntarily participated in this study. There were five (see Table 1). The following analysis reports, through their class-
male teachers and seven female teachers, and their average room experiences, what each effective strategy meant to the
teaching experience was 9.25 years (range ¼ 1e22 years) (see interviewed teachers.
Table 1). Their schools were located in different socio-economical
districts (high, medium and low), and had students with different 3.1. Rules-setting
levels of academic competence (high, medium and low). Maximum
variation sampling was used because it maximized the diversity Most of the teachers reported that they set up classroom rules at
relevant to the research questions (Patton, 2002; Sandelowski, the beginning, to inform students what behavior was expected of
1995). Prior to data collection, the author had developed all the them, and to provide a direction for students to follow. For example,
research protocols (e.g., consent forms and interview guide), and Miss Cheung revealed, “Setting so many rules is done to let them
obtained ethical approval from the Human Research Ethics Com- know when to act properly, and what is not proper to do.” However,
mittee of the author's academic institution. Then, the author sought she added that monitoring with frequent reminders was equally
the written consent of the school principals for their permission to important, because her students were forgetful and often repeated
conduct the research in their schools. At the beginning of each wrongdoing. She described, “First, I will let them know I do not
individual interview, the interviewers explained the issues of an- accept (the misbehavior). Even though I will not punish them, I will
onymity and confidentiality in data handling to the interviewees, let them know I found out, I don't like it, I don't allow … To
and got their written consent to voluntary participation. familiarize with this expectation, I will scrutinize them.” Moreover,
Miss Chan stressed that a teacher should act as a good role model to
2.2. Instruments remind students about the rules and encourage rule-biding
behavior. For example, she always arrived at the classroom punc-
We used a self-constructed semi-structured interview guide to tually to let students learn the importance of punctuality and time-
explore the interviewees' perceptions of classroom misbehavior keeping behavior. All the teachers agreed that the rules-setting
and their own management strategies. Example questions were strategy was effective as it resulted in student compliance. Miss
“What are the common types of student misbehavior in the class- Chow further explained that pre-set rules could prevent classroom
room? Please list as many as possible and describe them.”, “How disciplinary problems, and students having a negative response or
did you intervene?’, and “In your opinion, which strategy is the resistance towards punishment if they violated the rules.
most effective in mitigating student misbehavior? Please share and
explain.” The interviewees were invited to use real cases to illus- 3.2. Hinting
trate their views. To focus on the strategies for handling the
behavior of junior students, teachers' experiences with Grade 7 to Seven interviewed teachers reported using physical and verbal
Grade 9 classrooms were collected. We had validated the semi- cues in responding to student misbehavior. For example, making a
structured interview questions in three teacher group interviews “shu” sound when students were chatting in a low voice, staring at
(Sun, 2014b) in order to ensure the questions conveyed equivalent students who were eating, moving close to students who were
meanings to the teachers, thus facilitating comparability (Barriball, reading irrelevant books, having a “planned silence” when students
1994; Denzin & Lincoln, 2005). Two trained interviewers con- were playing in the classroom, knocking the desk of students who
ducted the interviews in Cantonese (the mother tongue of both the were sleeping, naming students who were talking out of turn, and
interviewers and the interviewees), and the average interview time asking questions when students were non-attentive. In another
was 49 min (ranging from 33 to 78 min). With the interviewees' words, hinting was commonly used for handling misbehavior that
prior consent, we audio-taped the interviews and transcribed them was mild and less disturbing to classroom teaching.
verbatim after the interviews. Hinting was perceived to be an effective strategy for two types
of students e students who were attention-seeking, and those who
2.3. Data analysis were able to regulate their behavior with minimal intervention. For
the first type of students, minimal cues satisfied their need for
The author carried out a general qualitative analysis (Miles & attention. Mr. Ng explained, “Actually, they want attention. If you
Huberman, 1994) to develop codes based on meaningful can satisfy their need for attention by giving minimal cues, it is
 R.C.F. Sun / Teaching and Teacher Education 46 (2015) 94e103 99

okay. If you do more than that, they will be very happy, and may mobile phones in the classroom, their phones would be confis-
continue their misbehavior, as they just want attention. Just stare at cated, and their parents would be informed. If the student wanted
them, and they will stop.” For the second type of students, Miss to get their phones back, they were required to submit a letter of
Chow noted that giving simple eye signals was sufficient most of repentance together with a request letter written by their parents.
the time, because her students would stop and understand that If the students fought with each other, they would be given a
their behavior had violated the rules. The cues were gentle re- demerit and required to write a repentance letter. The teachers
minders letting the misbehaving students know that they were strongly believed that these “consequences” raised the level of
under the spotlight and should choose to behave properly. Hence, student compliance and deterred misbehavior.
some teachers regarded hinting as a “face-protecting” strategy that Miss Wong reported that timely punishment was effective and
maintained both discipline with minimal teacher authority and a demonstrated the teacher's authority in managing student
good rapport with students. In short, hinting was useful because it behavior. She recounted, “If something worse happens (e.g., play-
stopped misbehavior immediately while satisfying the students' ing), I need to let the students clearly understand my authority by
need for attention, prompting students' self-control, and preser- imposing consequences (for their wrongdoings). This can stop their
ving good teacherestudent relationships. misbehavior immediately, or at least prevent the situation from
worsening. Timely punishment, like a detention or additional
3.3. Directive statements classwork to be submitted right after school, will send a message to
the whole class that there will be consequences after misbehavior.”
Giving directive commands (for instance, “Stop it!”, “Keep Most teachers perceived that punishment was a necessary
quiet!”, “Be attentive!”) was another strategy reported by the response to student misbehavior because it has educational and
teachers for handling mild and less disruptive misbehavior, such as developmental functions in student development. For instance,
chatting, eating, getting out of their seats, sleeping, playing, non- Miss Chan explained, “Punishment is definitely needed, so as to
attentiveness, and doing things irrelevant to classroom learning. make the students responsible for their behavior, to let them un-
Some teachers (Mr. Yeung, Miss Chow, Miss Ting, and Miss Chu) derstand they have this responsibility.” Miss Wan also added that
reported that they usually gave directive commands after hinting punishing the students who misbehaved by having them write a
failed to stop a student's misbehavior, while some teachers (Mr. Li, letter of repentance or a reflective journal of their misbehavior (e.g.,
Miss Cheung, Miss Wong, Mr. Fung, and Miss Wan) gave directive sleeping, disobedience) helped the students reflect on their
commands straight after the moment the misbehavior occurred, wrongdoings and plan for positive behavioral changes, which
without giving any hint first. indeed strengthens their proper values and behavior. Some teach-
The teachers regarded directive commands to be an effective ers punished students by giving reprimands. In Mr. Fung's account,
strategy to control student behavior because students need con- the reprimand was a form of moralization directing students to
crete directions. For example, when students chatted happily and what they ought to do or should not do, in a strong emotional tone
loudly, directive instructions liked “Keep quiet!” were more suc- (e.g., anger).
cessful in managing student behavior than simply starring at the Some teachers added that a combination of punitive and posi-
misbehaving students, as reported by Mr. Yeung, Miss Chow, and tive strategies was necessary for controlling or changing student
Miss Chu. Also, in some critical situations, when the students acted behavior. For instance, while scolding the misbehaving students,
or spoke rudely, a short and direct order “Stop it!” was useful in Miss Wong also used praise and positive feedback to reinforce
controlling the students' behavior and the situation, as revealed by positive behavior and peer modeling effects. She elaborated, “Every
Mr. Li, Miss Wong, and Miss Wan. time after I scold some students, I will find some students to praise.
Some teachers added that directive commands acted as a Keep positive … This is because those who are not naughty will be
warning that signaled potential negative consequences for easily influenced by those naughty students. Hence, praising them
repeated misbehavior. This kind of threatening was reported to be can make sure they will not follow the naughty students. On the
effective in eradicating misbehavior, but its side-effects on student contrary, when the naughty students find the good students are
engagement and learning atmosphere were also revealed. Mr. praised by their teacher, they will be positively influenced. This is
Yeung reflected, “When the students chat, I will first give them a because students are looking for attention most of the time.” In
warning as a reminder. It is mostly effective; at least it helps stop addition, Mr. Fung, Miss Chu and Miss Wan also argued that pun-
most misbehavior. However, it cannot make students be attentive ishment would be meaningless if teachers did not take further
in class … If the situation is worsening, I will stop the whole class, steps (such as after class talks) to guide students to develop proper
draw their attention, and even ask them to stand up, and tell them values or to build up positive relationships with the students. Miss
my expectations at that moment. Mostly, they will listen … How- Wan highlighted that it was pertinent to let students know that
ever, the classroom atmosphere deteriorates. There are no other teachers were offering help but not picking on their students.
choices and it at least works.” In short, giving directive commands
or verbal warnings was perceived as effective in stopping misbe- 3.5. After class talks
havior immediately, particularly if the students were rather
submissive. Ten interviewed teachers held personal conversations with
misbehaving students after class, whenever students showed mild
3.4. Punishment misbehavior (such as non-attentiveness, sleeping, eating), or severe
misbehavior (such as disruptive chatting, rudeness, emotional
Ten interviewed teachers reported punishment as the logical disturbance, persistent forgetfulness). They did not simply stop the
consequence for students whose misbehavior violated the rules students' misbehavior inside the classroom, they also tried to un-
(e.g., using a mobile phone, fighting, bullying, speaking foul lan- derstand the underlying reasons for the students' misbehavior and
guage, and vandalism), or became intolerable (e.g., disruptive provide corresponding support outside the classroom. Although
chatting, repetitive tardiness, playing, talking out of turn, and doing teachers had to spend extra time and energy to take care of those
something irrelevant to classroom learning). If the students students, teachers perceived that it was their responsibility to guide
violated the school rules, they would receive punishment according students' personal development and they envisioned the effec-
to the school's disciplinary systems. For example, if students used tiveness of private conversation in helping their students make
100 R.C.F. Sun / Teaching and Teacher Education 46 (2015) 94e103

behavioral changes. For example, when handling students with to listen and then to answer questions) and the consequences (e.g.,
strong emotional disturbances, Miss Chan revealed that, “Personal if they could not give a correct answer, they were required to stand
conversation can let the students reflect on what the problem was up until they got the correct answer). Although instructional in-
and why their emotions were so agitated, thus increasing their self- teractions increased on-task behavior and reduced misbehavior,
awareness and helping them avoid repeating the wrongdoings.” Mr. Li noted that it took time to arouse the students' intrinsic
Similarly, Miss Chow tried to understand the reasons behind stu- motivation to learn.
dent misbehavior (e.g., chatting, and non-attentiveness) and would
discuss a proper way of solving the problems with the student. On 3.8. Referral
the other hand, Mr. Fung mentioned that private chats allowed him
to understand the learning difficulties and needs of the students Some teachers were clear about the back-up systems in their
who showed low motivation in learning, and thus he could adapt school, and they referred misbehaving students to the relevant
the lesson design to cater for his students. In short, personal con- parties for further follow-up. Mr. Ho noted that, “For some un-
versation allowed teachers and students to understand the reasons manageable behavior, i.e., that of students having special educa-
for the misbehavior, which helped with making corresponding tional needs … a teacher can seek the help from the discipline
changes. teacher … or in some special cases like bullying, a teacher can also
Moreover, the teachers perceived that talking to individual seek the help from the counseling teacher, or social workers.”
students after class was a good opportunity to inculcate proper Similarly, Miss Chu referred the students whose behavior and
values, so as to help students make changes and grow up positively. thought deviated from normal to discipline teachers and school
If not, simply punishment, by itself, was meaningless. Mr. Ng social workers for further referral to other professionals. However,
revealed, “We need to tell them what are the pros and cons of the interviewed teachers could not comment on the effectiveness
copying others' homework … if we just punish them, it is mean- of this strategy because they did not know what kind of support
ingless … we need to let students understand the meaning and was given to the students after referral.
value of what they are doing, since we often ‘say no’ without any in-
depth explanation.” Miss Chu agreed with this point. She indicated 4. Discussion
that the most important thing in the conversation was explaining
the moral ramifications of certain behavior, rather than just The main aim of this study was to investigate what effective
scolding the students. Furthermore, Miss Chan added that holding a strategies for managing student behavior meant to the teachers
discussion with the offending students privately could protect the through their classroom experiences. The results showed that the
face of the students, and let the students experience teacher care interviewed teachers commonly used eight strategies to manage
and thus became more cooperative with regard to controlling their student misbehavior, of which seven were perceived to be effective,
behavior. i.e., rules-setting, hinting, directive statements, punishment, after
class talks, relationship building, and instructional engagement.
3.6. Relationship building The first four strategies were effective because they not only
controlled student behavior, but also nurtured students' re-
One-third of the interviewed teachers revealed that building up sponsibility for managing their own behavior. Talking with stu-
a good relationship with their students was the key to managing dents after class and relationship building were student-centered
student behavior. For example, Miss Wong acknowledged that and helped forge good teacherestudent relationships conducive to
punishment was a short-term strategy to “control” student cultivating student trust and positive behavioral changes. Instruc-
behavior, whereas a good teacherestudent relationship character- tional engagement was effective as it raised student participation in
ized by patience and care was a long-term strategy to “facilitate classroom learning which in turn thwarted misbehavior. The pre-
changes” in student behavior and attitudes. She shared, “Starting sent findings showed that Hong Kong teachers did not simply
from the beginning … to understand them more, to show more respond to student misbehavior in a knee-jerk manner, they inte-
care, to build up a relationship. The relationship can be quickly built grated discipline, guidance and teaching strategies that were
up in some classrooms, say in one or two weeks. It can take a year beneficial to student learning and development (Kayikci, 2009).
for others, and thus I need to listen to the students more. If they As school is a rule-governing context, most of the teachers
want to grumble, let them grumble. Help them if they have diffi- showed a high level of teacher control and strictness in setting up
culties. Let them feel that the teacher is helping them honestly. If and maintaining classroom rules for preventing disciplinary prob-
they can feel that, they will become cooperative.” lems. On one hand, the teachers frequently monitored student
behavior and showed timely disapproval of the inappropriate
3.7. Instructional engagement behavior to maintain order and student compliance. On the other
hand, teachers acted as role models to encourage proper behavior
One-third of the interviewed teachers perceived that “no and values. The present findings showed that Hong Kong teachers
engagement in classroom learning” was a type of misbehavior, usually assumed their responsibility for controlling and guiding
which was sometimes associated with other misbehavior such as good student behavior (Ho, 2001). Moreover, in the Confucian-
non-attentiveness, chatting and tardiness, reflecting that students heritage classrooms, the use of behavioral control strategies were
lacked learning motivation and interest. Therefore, these teachers not simply for the purpose of deterrence and control (e.g., Lewis
used instructional interactions to engage students in classroom et al., 2005), but also for strengthening teacher authority and stu-
learning in order to mitigate misbehavior. Mr. Li described, “I dent conformity, and for developing students' self-regulation and
usually engage the students, i.e., to keep them busy, via teaching responsibility (Hue, 2010).
strategies. If the lesson is well-designed, matches the students' The most commonly-used behavioral control strategy was
needs and characteristics, and has a well-controlled pace, problem punishment (Cheung & Lau, 1985). This is understandable as Chi-
behavior in our school will not appear. For example, if there is nese parents and teachers value a punitive approach in training a
intensive questioning and discussion, the students will have no good child, as implied by the Chinese sayings, “spare the rod and
space for doing other things.” He explained that the students would spoil the child”. However, punishment was perceived to be more
be on task if they knew the goals to be achieved in the lesson (e.g., than a negative reinforcement having a deterrent effect on reducing
 R.C.F. Sun / Teaching and Teacher Education 46 (2015) 94e103 101

undesirable behavior in Chinese classrooms. Punishment was contrary, students who failed to perform the expected roles and
regarded as a logical consequence for students to bear for their duties deserved punitive consequences. Moreover, under the Chi-
misdeeds, so that they learn to be responsible for their actions in nese belief that “praise enervates but criticism builds character” and
the future. Hence, in contrast to the disputed idea that punishment the Chinese value of modesty in child-rearing, it is commonly
would inhibit the responsibility of students for managing their own believed that praise will make children easily satisfied with their
behavior (Roache & Lewis, 2011), the present study showed that behavior, hamper improvement and even worsen performance. Even
constructive punishment (such as writing a repentance letter or a though there was just one teacher who reported using verbal praise,
reflective journal regarding one's misdeed) provided an opportu- she showed that praise was effective in supporting students' good
nity for students to develop an awareness that one's behavior has behavior, and even positive peer modeling, when positive feedback
consequences, and to identify with proper values and behavior. was given to inform which good behavior deserved admiration so as
Similarly, a reprimand was a kind of verbal punishment that to guide students into making proper behavioral choices. Contrary to
showed both disapproval of misbehavior and moralization of the suggestion that positive and negative feedback should be given
proper behavior and values. As the limited impact of punishment in a ratio of 4:1 (Trussell, 2008), the interviewed teacher showed that
on restraining misbehavior was clearly noted (Cameron, 2006; a halfehalf proportion was sufficient to achieve the purpose of
Wong, 2004), some teachers highlighted that subsequent guid- behavioral control in the Chinese context.
ance should be given after punishment via positive strategies, such In support of Ho's findings (Ho, 2001), the present study showed
as talking to the student after class. Therefore, punishment was that Hong Kong Chinese teachers played an authoritarian role in-
perceived as effective when teachers exercised it with constructive side the classroom while playing a caring role outside the class-
and correctional purposes over and above coercive and restrictive room in managing student behavior. They have the dual role of
purposes. stopping misbehavior and promoting positive behavior, and thus
Furthermore, to maintain classroom learning and to stop they have integrated discipline and guidance strategies in man-
disruptive behavior immediately, teachers usually gave concrete aging students (Hue, 2010). Moreover, due to the difficulties of
and directive statements to students, particularly those who handling individual students' issues in the classroom with its large
needed more straight-forward instruction. Directive commands class size, most of the interviewed teachers reported that they ar-
were also given out as a warning or threat to force students to ranged a personal conversation with the misbehaving students
comply with the teachers' expectations or rules. Threatening and after class, so as to guide the students to find out the reasons for
punishment were commonly reported in the present study and their misbehavior, the adverse effects of misbehavior on them-
previous local studies (Cheung & Lau, 1985; Ho, 2001), showing selves and others, and ways of behaving properly and its impor-
that Hong Kong teachers need to exercise their authority and tance, etc. That means, personal conversations raise the students'
control in managing student behavior. Some teachers also used awareness of their behavior, and their autonomy in choosing how
nonverbal to verbal hints, such as looking, naming and questioning, to behave under the guidance of the teacher. Talking with students
to stop student misbehavior, as well as to assist students with after class is a student-centered strategy because it allows teachers
developing a sense of awareness and responsibility for managing to understand the underlying reasons of the manifestation of
their behavior in accordance with the rules and norms. Compared misbehavior, and thus provides individualized support. More
with directive commands, hinting was less intrusive and authori- importantly, it allows the promotion of proper values that are
tarian. Still, hinting was found to have a disciplinary function fundamental in helping students make positive behavioral choices.
within the Chinese cultural context (Ding et al., 2010; Roache & Although talking after class was perceived to be an effective
Lewis, 2011), which might be due to the fact that Chinese stu- strategy for helping students to make positive behavioral choices
dents are submissive in hierarchical Confucian classrooms, and (e.g., Ding et al., 2010), the teachers in the present study also
thus they can be easily controlled with minimal teacher interven- acknowledged that a chat might not necessarily lead to immediate
tion. Another reason is that hinting serves as a “face-protecting and behavior changes in students since the internalization of values takes
face-giving” relationship strategy that is highly valued in Chinese time. Hence, being patient in listening to students' problems and
cultural contexts. Teachers use hints as a gesture of respecting the feelings was highlighted as being an important element that teachers
students (i.e., face-protecting), and expect students to show respect used in building up good teacherestudent relationships, showing
in return by being cooperative (i.e., face-giving). This relationship teacher care and nurturing student trust. It is believed that students
strategy exercises more student autonomy by showing minimal will be more willing to make positive changes when they find that
teacher control, therefore the effects of this strategy depend on teachers are caring, trustworthy and prepared to offer help, partic-
whether or not students have better self-control. If this strategy ularly in the collectivist Chinese-cultural contexts where human
failed to work properly in stopping misbehavior, teachers turned to relationships are treasured (Hui & Lo, 1997). Therefore, this study
clawing back control by giving out more intrusive directive com- showed that effective strategies for managing student behavior were
mands or punishments, as noted in the teacher behavior contin- not those simply suppressing student misbehavior in the short term
uum (Canter & Canter, 2001). in the classroom, but also those enabling student responsibility for
Praise is a kind of behavioral control strategy that reinforces a regulating their own behavior, and those forging good teachere-
person's desirable behavior (Skinner, 1938). Unlike existing studies student relationships conducive to cultivating positive behavior and
showing that “giving praise” was a commonly used strategy (Ding attitudes in the long-run. Similar behavioral control and care stra-
et al., 2010; Little & Akin-Little, 2008), only one interviewed tegies were also found to work complementarily and effectively in
teacher reported using praise to reinforce positive behavior. Not Western-cultural contexts (Nie & Lau, 2009).
many secondary school teachers in this study reported using praise, Comparatively, only a few teachers in this study were willing to
which might be because praise was perceived to be more effective in apply teaching processes and adapt their teaching for reducing
elementary school contexts rather than in middle and high school classroom misbehavior, which might be because the teachers were
contexts (Ding et al., 2010). Also, it might be because most of the less likely to admit their own classroom management deficits due
interviewed teachers had already shown clear expectations of stu- to the presence of self-serving biases in attributing the causes of
dent behavior and learning via setting up rules. Hence, students student misbehavior (Sun, 2014b). Nonetheless, these teachers took
were regarded as fulfilling their roles and duties in following the up a proactive role to prevent student misbehavior by setting up
rules, and thus they were less likely to deserve applause. On the clear learning expectations, and implementing interesting and
102 R.C.F. Sun / Teaching and Teacher Education 46 (2015) 94e103

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