Resolving Most Behavior Problems
By: Alpha Sanford
In order to resolve most behavior problems that occur in school, one must know whose problem is it and why it is occurring. In Chapter 7, the author emphasizes the importance of recognizing if a certain behavioral issue is coming directly from the teacher’s or the student’s. It also differentiates the two kinds of behavior problems which are the (1) self-defeating or harmful behaviors and (2) behaviors that challenge values or expectations.
Most of the behaviors that infringe on the rights of others such as hitting others, breaking other people’s belongings, calling names, bullying others as well as doing things that make other people feel bad fall under the first group of behavior, (Self-defeating or harmful behaviors) as mentioned above. These kinds of behaviors need prompt intervention and without any doubt it must be addressed as quickly as possible. These behaviors are labeled as “problematic” therefore teachers have the obligation to change the behavior before the issue escalates. It is therefore unquestionable for teachers to act upon any behavior that might lead to endangerment of the members of the class.
On the other hand, behaviors that may or may not conform to the teacher’s values, expectations, perceptions and also ethnic background present arbitrary interventions. It may mean that teachers should first examine the reasons of wanting to intervene or change the behaviors presented before deciding whether or not to act upon it. Examples of these behaviors include being loud in class, being assertive, boasting one’s accomplishment, extremely frank, submissive, loud, working on a task slowly or quickly and other behaviors that are not harmful and do not intervene with the rights of other students but teachers do not necessarily accept such behaviors.
Teachers are also human beings. They can be biased and they also make mistakes. They bring in the classroom their own set of values, personalities, gender and cultural backgrounds. These differences encompass the way they perceive the acceptance or rejection of behaviors. But knowing if a certain behavior is influenced by how teachers see them is crucial in determining whether to intervene or not, or maybe for the teacher to deal with the problem on his own.
There are four differing perceptions of behavior that affect the way teachers react to students’ behavior (1) Gender Differences (2) Cultural Background (3) Values Differences and (4) Psychological Differences.
According to previous researches, female teachers are less tolerant to male-typical disruptive behavior and vice versa. Female teachers are also friendlier to female students and present teaching strategies that are geared towards the enhancement of females’ learning behavior and personalities. They also empower female students by developing their self-confidence and counteract their negative thinking. In general, female teachers look out more for the needs of the female students than their male counterparts.
There are also many cultural differences as the number of different cultures that are present in the classroom. These cultural differences that directly stem from the teacher’s background can be perceived as rudeness to others, inconsideration, immoral, and impolite. Examples of behaviors that may possibly affect the teacher’s cultural perception include but not limited to being loud, making noises, asking too many personal questions and being distant to peers and teachers. However, teachers who come from the same cultural, socioeconomic and ethnic background as their students are less likely to judge students’ behaviors as problematic and do not usually intervene in situations where other teachers may not accept as good behaviors.
Cultural and values differences overlap with each other. Generally people who come from the same cultural background develop a set of values that are either rational or irrational to some and intellectual or foolish to others. However, they do not necessarily have the same acquisition of values because they are brought up from different parents who have different values and reside in different neighborhoods that have different ideas and feelings about what is appropriate, worthy and desirable. Examples of behaviors that may possibly affect the teacher’s values differences are values on punctuality and promptness, the importance of academic versus extra curricular activities and addressing the authority in a polite manner or not.
Behaviors that are usually affected by the many psychological differences of a person are less intellectual and rational. These behaviors usually arise without the other person knowing about it. They make up the contents of most comments made by individuals such as “I can’t stand this…”, “This is driving me nuts…” or “This girl is just killing me the way she…” However, it is equally important to determine these differences to resolve and react appropriately to a situation. Examples of behaviors that do not necessary conform to the teacher’s psychological expectations are students who are questioning the teacher a lot, students who are not adhering to the rules, students who are aloof, distant and maintain a professional relationship between the teacher and the student. These behaviors may mean differently to different teachers who have various level of tolerance, experience and ability.
Yet with all these behaviors come the question or the choice to intervene or not. If a teacher chooses to intervene, there are five strategies that teachers can use to handle their student’s behavior problems. These strategies are (1) changing (2) managing (3) tolerating (4) accommodating and (5) preventing.
Of all these five strategies, the fifth one is the most important strategy that teachers need to master. This is the role of the teacher that needs more attention if not equal to the amount of time teachers devote on planning for their curriculum. If teachers know how to prevent and anticipate some minor problems to occur, then many of the problems in the classroom will be avoided.
Such scenario include a student who is caught up in tears and refuses to do class work (but may be resolved by distracting him), students eyes are roaming to a seatmate’s papers (can be resolved by proximity control), talkative seatmates (can be resolved by separating them or rearranging the classroom seating arrangement) and too much traffic in the classroom (may mean to establish a different classroom lay-out).
Many of the bigger behavioral issues were born out of boredom or out of little things. These little things that turn into bigger problems such as the arrangement of the class, proximity control, signaling awareness and nonverbal communication among students are easily preventable. With the right prevention and proper planning for a well-designed space in the classroom, these problems may not even be evident in the classroom at all.
The effective teacher establishes various measures to stop the occurrence of the incidence. A well-managed classroom is evident in the entire atmosphere of the room. Thus, knowing when and how to act before it even occurs is absolutely essential in the life of every teacher.
Reference: Grossman, H. (2004) Classroom Behavior Management: For Diverse and Inclusive Schools. Lanham, Maryland. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
