Progressive Classroom Management

Great Essays
Classroom management is an important component to any successful classroom. A well-managed classroom leads to productivity, student engagement, and decrease in negative behavior. Past classroom management involved strict rules, little exploration, and rote learning. However, a progressive movement is shaping the way that classrooms are managed all around the country. Through the comparison of William Glasser, Ellen White, and Harry Wong, this paper explores the way the progressive classroom manages rules, procedures, relationships, will, control, discipline, and the differences of these classroom management frontrunners.
When one walks into most classroom their eyes are immediately drawn to a large poster listing the rules of the classroom.
…show more content…
It cannot be the goal of the teacher to break and damage the will. Ellen White (1923) writes about this concept extensively, however this quote best expresses her point of view. “The will must be trained to obey the dictates of reason and conscience. A child may be so disciplined as to have, like the beat, no will of its own, his individuality being lost in that of his teacher. Such training is unwise, and its effect disastrous.” (p. 57). Her point is that there has to be training of the will, otherwise the child will not have guidance and run about wildly, but one cannot aim to have all the wills in the classroom be the same. This is important for my classroom philosophy because I want to treat each child as the individual they are. Some of my favorite teachers were the ones who took time to learn about each of us and treated us accordingly. They were not concerned about breaking the will, but rather being a mentor and guiding us through …show more content…
All three authors agree that control and coercion is not the goal. Each student should be respected and each teacher should understand that the only behavior they can control is their own. Otherwise, teachers will become frustrated and angry at students, students will become discouraged and want to avoid school, and it will lead to a tense, unproductive learning environment. White (1903) writes “True education is not the forcing of instruction on an unready and unreceptive mind. The mental powers must be awakened, the interest aroused…Then, as inquiry was made, the instruction given impressed mind and heart.” (p. 41). Glasser (1998) writes on the topic, “If teachers do not teach in need-satisfying ways, then they almost all resort to coercion to try to make students learn.” (pg. 8). Controlling students is not my goal and I do not believe that it should be the goal of any classroom I am a part of. I want to instruct my students, but not coerce them. It is important for my future classroom to have an atmosphere of safety so students can discuss their

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    While observing in Beth Johnston’s First Grade classroom at Eugene Field Elementary School, I have noticed some effective and ineffective classroom management practices that she uses while I have been in the classroom. One effective classroom management technique that I have observed is that Mrs. Johnston puts her student’s desks into groups of three or four. This is an effective technique because she puts her strong students with her not as strong students, which can help with the students who might need a little help staying on track with the lesson that they are supposed to get done. Also, Mrs. Johnston has changed the groups a couple of times since I have been observing in the classroom. This I believe is effective because the students…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Classroom Management Model

    • 1577 Words
    • 7 Pages

    1. The first research study that I analyzed is The Effect of a Professional Development Classroom Management Model on At-Risk Elementary Students’ Misbehaviors by Dr. Gary Reglin, Dr. Joretta Akpo-Sanni, and Dr. Nonofo Losike-Sedimo. The copyright to the article is by Project Innovation and it was published in Fall 2012. I found the study through a search on ERIC (Educational Reform Information Center) by using the search terms ‘Classroom Management’ and ‘Discipline’.…

    • 1577 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This essay will focus on three classroom management theories: Dreikurs’s Goal Centered Theory, Glasser’s Choice Theory and Canter’s Assertive Discipline. The three theories will be defined, important principles discussed and the differences and similarities identified between each one. Each theory will also have their strengths and weaknesses critiqued, which will help the development of a personal classroom management plan that is meaningful and effective and form the basis of a professional teaching philosophy (Lyons, Ford, & Slee, 2014). Rudolph Dreikurs’ Goal Centered Theory focuses on a student’s lack of belonging in a social setting as the primary result of classroom misbehavior and that behaviour is a choice within ourselves (Dreikurs,…

    • 1290 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Journalist, satirist and cultural critic H.L. Mencken once said, "The aim of public education is to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence, and so make them fit to discharge the duties of citizenship in an enlightened and independent manner". However, in retrospect, my time within the Australian public education system has shown me that in Australia, this is not the case. Being a part of this system for the past thirteen years of my life, I have come to realise that our education system, powered by teachers who have the potential to inspire and innovate, have caged their students in cells haunted by repetition. We memorise facts to pass a test and forget about them later. We are trained to conform to the…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This collaboration allows the students to take responsibility and ownership for their actions; while also setting high expectations from the beginning. In addition to collaborating with my students, I will also collaborate with other professionals to ensure that my students have the most enriching learning environment possible. For the purpose of this paper, a sixth grade class has been chosen. “The ultimate goal of classroom management should not be on simple…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lundeen (2002) stated that new teachers Numerous would likewise contend for positive results when principles are taken after, and negative outcomes when rules are broken. There are more up to date points of view on classroom administration that endeavor to be all encompassing. One sample is confirmation instructions, which endeavors to guide understudies toward accomplishment by assisting them with perceiving how their exertion pays off in the classroom. It depends after making a domain where understudies are effective as their very own aftereffect endeavors. By making this kind of environment, understudies are a great deal more prone to need to well.…

    • 1681 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The many theories concerning classroom management vary in practices, discipline, responsibility and control. Three such theories are Glasser’s Choice Theory; Kaplan and Carter’s Cognitive behavourial theory; and Alberto and Troutman’s Applied Behavioural Analysis. Each of these theories falls along a continuum for each of the variations above. They each have strengths and weaknesses, but collectively meet the various needs of the classroom. Therefore, it is appropriate to explore each theory to understand when and how each might be applied.…

    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Behavior Management Plan Number One My second placement is a first grade class with a high number of Individualized Educational Plans (I.E.Ps). There are sixteen students in our first grade class, which contains seven girls and nine boys. One behavior management that my mentor teacher uses is the colored clip stick. She has a yard stick that has been painted starting from red on the bottom which is “Parent Contact.”…

    • 1607 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are areas suitable for independent, cozy corners and independent desks, as well as group learning, large area rug and round tables. There are materials that support learning through auditory, visual, and kinesthetic means such as posters, books on tape, and yoga balls for seating. Next, I make sure that all students understand my expectations for them. As a class, we discuss what rules everyone…

    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An ideal image of a classroom includes all the children listening to a teacher engaged and eager to learn. The reality of this is that without managing the classroom using strategies such as; discipline and variety this would not be achieved, possibly leading to a distracting and ineffective learning environment for children. Strategies that will be covered in this essay are the need for clear rules in the classroom and the use of the traffic light system to help identify what areas the child is struggling with. Due to the classroom being full of children it is extremely unlikely that they all have the same rules to follow when at home, this can lead to children not fully understanding how they should act in the classroom.…

    • 165 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction Creating a developmentally appropriate classroom management plan for preschool aged children can be a challenging task; however, it is one of the most critical aspects of an early childhood educator’s career. Efficient classroom management strategies determine the success of all stakeholders in an educational program. According to Newman (2013) “managing a classroom effectively means creating the conditions that facilitate learning, whether it be for 5-year-olds or 50-year-olds” (p. 41). Efficient educators know and understand the importance of using classroom management techniques to not only ensure academic success, but also to ensure students learn how to be great citizens that enhance the quality of their communities inside…

    • 170 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To briefly summarize the philosophical shift that ReLeah Cosset Lent calls the “responsibility breakthrough, it allows the student to learn something they enjoy at a pace, within reason, that is acceptable to learn it. As stated by R. Lent “Too many students have had so little experience making academic choices that they don’t know how to decide.” (Lent, 2010, p.70), in which case students need to learn to take charge of their education and not rely on a teacher to teach them to enjoy certain aspects of education. R. Lent believes that a teacher needs to “Provide as much autonomy as possible in choice of content, task, texts, partners, delivery, due dates, and assessment” (Lent, 2010, p.71) allowing the student to enjoy what they are learning…

    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Principles of Classroom Management: Chapter 1 Analysis of the Chapter: Managing a classroom comes with a lot to consider and your students are just part of it! As a teacher you must first realize that you are there for a lot more than just teaching a lesson, you are also there to be a meaningful influence to your students and their behavior. Behavior is always a major concern as a classroom teacher. You walk into your classroom on the first day of school knowing very little about your students or what their educational background is.…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    in this respect is to ensure that children are not trained exclusively under the influence of a single milieu, or, still worse, by a single and unique person” (Durkheim, 1961, pg.144). There are a few reasons this idea of having one teacher could have; first, the child would not be well socialized with different adults and people in general, and second, the child would start to develop mannerisms that the teacher has and would be a similar copy to that individual. Therefore, the child would have not developed their own personality; “If, as was recently proposed for our secondary schools, the child remains for several years’ subject to the influence of one and the same instructor, he must necessarily become a slavish copy of the one model placed constantly before him” (Durkheim, 1961, pg.145). This goes back to the idea of…

    • 1616 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Classroom management is crucial for every teacher to have in a successful learning environment. I believe that students need to be controlled and disciplined; students at this age need to be guided in the right path. They are capable of self-discipline but need to be shown what the rules of the classroom are and what is the expectation of the teacher. I believe that students are basically good but that the environment around them influences them tremendously. If they maintain busy with instruction then they will not have time to be disruptive and they need to be guided to behave appropriately.…

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays