Management Strategies in The Educational Setting: Class Room Management Instructional and Proactive Planning classroom management techniques have shown to improve classroom behavior, build relationships for a better classroom community, and foster a positive classroom environment where student learning is the number one collective goal.
Management Strategies in The Educational Setting
Instructors play various roles in the typical classroom setting, but none is more important than that of classroom manager. Effective instruction cannot take place in a poorly managed classroom. If students are disorderly, disrespectful, unprepared, and no rules or procedures guide behavior, little real learning takes place, and students cannot learn the inner sense of discipline needed to be true professionals.
In these situations, both students and teachers suffer. The instructor struggles to teach, and students learn much less than they should. Well-managed classroom environments, on the other hand, provide an environment in which teaching and learning can flourish.
A well-managed classroom environment does not happen by accident. It takes a great deal of planning and effort. The instructor is charged with creating an environment that is conducive to learning.
Classroom Management in Nursing Education
Setting creating such an environment is a dynamic process. The effective nursing instructor performs many functions. These functions can be described as the four “pillars” of classroom management:
(1) choosing effective instructional strategies to meet the needs of the student
(2) designing a classroom environment that facilitates student learning and uses time and resources wisely
(3) choosing strategies that respond to students who are uncooperative or who are not performing at a level necessary to meet their professional standards
(4) making effective use of classroom management strategies to support the previous three pillars and keep the momentum going throughout the semester
Communication and positive relationships between instructors and students are also critical components of effective classroom management.
The First Pillar: Instructional Strategies
The first pillar deals with instructional strategies. Effective instructors are able to use a variety of instructional strategies, including both deductive and inductive approaches. They are skilled at the use of cooperative learning and group work. They are skilled in the use of effective questioning techniques, graphic organizers, note taking, and effective planning. They assign meaningful homework, laboratory exercises, and practical observations.
In addition to these skills, they know which strategy is appropriate for a particular student or a particular content area. Although a lecture may be appropriate for one subject, group learning, or an inductive “discovery” approach may be a better approach for another lesson.
Good instruction includes “content knowledge” but also includes “pedagogical knowledge” or the “how to” of teaching. Pedagogical knowledge includes knowledge of creative ways of teaching, knowledge of how to give assessments that accurately evaluate students’ progress and being aware of which aspects of the discipline are difficult or easy for students to learn.
Included in the concept of instructional strategies is also curriculum design. This means that the effective nursing instructor can identify and articulate the proper scope and sequence as well as pacing of content. Rather than relying totally on the scope and sequence identified in the course syllabus or the course textbook, they must consider the needs of their students both as a class and as individuals.
Instructors must determine the content that requires emphasis and the most appropriate presentation of that content. They must also be skilled at constructing and arranging learning activities that present new knowledge in new and exciting formats, such as stories, explanations, demonstrations; and different media like oral, written, video, the Web, simulations, and hands-on practical experiences.
Motivation
Knowledge of student motivation is key to choosing effective instructional strategies. Motivation has been defined as those processes that energize, direct, and sustain behavior. Students who are motivated are energized, directed, and sustained. But what motivates students?
Different perspectives on motivation include: behavioral, humanistic, social, and cognitive. According to the behavioral perspective, student motivation is based on external rewards and punishments. Incentives are positive or negative stimuli or events that can motivate a student’s behavior.
Incentives can add interest to the class, direct attention toward appropriate behavior, and discourage inappropriate behavior (Emmer, Evertson, Clements, & Worsham, 2000). Incentives include grades and feedback about the quality of student work, recognition or awards, and allowing students to complete a preferred activity.
The humanistic perspective is founded in the student’s need for personal growth, freedom to choose, and positive growth. This perspective is most familiar in the work of Abraham Maslow (1954, 1971). According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, students’ needs must be satisfied in order for students to reach their full potential:
- Physiological: hunger, thirst, sleep
- Safety: survival, protection from harm
- Love and belongingness: security, affection, attention from others
- Esteem: feeling good about ourselves
- Self-actualization: realization of our full potential The humanistic perspective is also seen in the work of William Glasser (1986). In his book Control Theory in the Classroom, he states, “our behavior is always our best attempt at the time to satisfy at least five powerful forces which, because they are built into our genetic structure, are best called basic needs” (p. 14).
Glasser described these needs as:
- To survive and reproduce
- To belong and to love
- To gain power
- To be free
- To have fun Glasser indicates that students will behave properly only in classroom environments that allow them to experience a sense of control or power over their learning.
In The Quality School: Managing Students without Coercion, Glasser asserts, “For workers, including students, to do quality work, they must be managed in a way that convinces them that the work they are asked to do satisfies their needs. The more it does, the harder they will work.” (Glasser, 1990, p. 22). In order to satisfy these needs, instructors must, among other things, choose tailored and appropriate instructional strategies.
The social perspective on motivation is seen in the need for affiliation. This is the motive to be connected with other people. Students who are high in the need for affiliation or relatedness have a strong desire to spend time with their peers, develop strong friendships, are closely connected with their parents, and have a strong desire to have a positive relationship with their teachers.
Students in schools with caring and supportive interpersonal relationships have more positive academic attitudes, and are more satisfied with school (Baker, 1999; Stipek, 2002). Other research has shown that an important factor in student motivation and achievement was students’ perception of a positive relationship with their teacher (McCoombs, 2001; McCoombs & Quiat, 2001).
The cognitive perspective on motivation emphasizes that students’ thoughts guide their motivation. This perspective focuses on students’ internal motivation to achieve, their attributions about success or failure and effort required for a task, and their beliefs that they can control their environment effectively (Werner, 1986, 2000).
The cognitive perspective on motivation also stresses the importance of goal setting, planning, and monitoring progress toward a goal (Zimmerman, Bonner, & Kovach, 1996).
The current interest in the cognitive perspective on motivation also looks at students as extrinsically or intrinsically motivated. Extrinsic motivation is motivation to obtain something, such as rewards or punishments.
Intrinsic motivation involves the internal motivation to do something for its own sake or because the student enjoys it. For this type of student, working long hours in a course is enjoyable because he or she enjoys the content of the course. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1990, 2000; Csikszentmihalyi, Rathunde, & Whalen, 1993; Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002) has described this type of learner in Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (1990).
He states that students experience flow when they experience feelings of deep happiness and enjoyment in their work. This happens when a student experiences a sense of mastery and when the student is deeply absorbed in her work. Flow is most likely to occur when students are challenged and perceive themselves as having a high degree of skill. Choice of instructional strategy plays a crucial role in flow.
The Second Pillar: Proactive Planning to Facilitate Learning
The second pillar is designing a classroom environment that facilitates student learning and uses time and resources wisely. The effective classroom manager is proactive. This type of instructor plans, organizes, and designs the class before the first student ever sets foot in the classroom or laboratory.
The proactive teacher will reap the benefits of extensive planning. Classes will run smoothly, students will be prepared and cooperative, time will be used efficiently, and authentic instruction will take place. The reactive teacher will waste time responding to interruptions and will spend an inordinate amount of time “disciplining” students rather than instructing them.
Social Link: https://www.facebook.com/nurseseducator