A student centred approach to classroom management

The original and fundamental assumption behind this approach was that parents and teacher’s control children’s behaviour and this can have a very negative effect on child development. There is a long tradition in psychology that supports this type of classroom approach. A student centred approach intends to encourage independence and to allow children to choose their own behaviour.

in a student centered classroom the teacher:

• allows the sharing of decision making and control of the class
• allows personal and group initiatives
• delegates the responsibility for behaviour to the learners
• encourages active participation towards the fulfillment of mutual goals

understanding the nature of the problem is central to this approach:

• identify the source of the problem
• the teacher should be listening to what may be the underlying “problem/message” and not what appears to be the problem
• encourage learners to speak openly
• allow learners to change behaviour rather than reinforcing accusations
• language development, thoughts, feelings, age, and reasoning ability, may restrict the teacher’s use of logical argument

this approach implies ‘active listening’:

• silence is golden and poowerful
• listening shows willingness to help and accept. It is a powerful tool

Methodology:

• prompt learners to express themselves
• and then actively listen
• afterwards, respond
• look for ‘door openers’
• help to enlighten ’cause and effect’

Prerequisites of student centered teacher:

• trusts the learners’ ability to solve their own problems
• genuinely accept students’ feelings
• is with the students - shows warmth, compassion, feeling
• encourages openness of feelings, emotions - is not be afraid of emotions
• promotes privacy and confidentiality - builds trust and respect - eliminates gossip

a student centered teacher

• mirrors student by feedback: clarifies; promotes inquiry, discussion and questioning,
• allows learners to explore their feelings
• allows learners freedom to think for themselves and provides minimal evaluative feedback.
• do not judge, tell, probe or use lecturing style techniques.

The intended outcomes of the student centred approach:

• promotes willingness to listen
• promotes a greater sense of self-worth
• creates more meaningful relationships between people
• the teacher displays a caring attitude
• discipline problems decrease significantly as relationships develop

The goals of discipline:

• Because learners have more opportunity to decide how to learn individually, there should be a tendency to have less behavioural management problems.
  • Boredom and failure, two of the main causes of behavioural problems, are virtually eliminated.
• The teacher is cast as a facilitator of learning, not a dictator of information. One who is seen as a reference, a guide, a source, and a guide to the growth and development of the intellectual child.

Using this method, traditional punishment and extrinsic reward discipline is largely diminished. Three proponents of the student centred approach are: Thomas Gordon, Abraham Maslow, Steven Krashen and Carl Rogers. In the TEFL world look at Rinvolucri, Chris Sion, Wajnryb, Paul Davis and A. Underhill.

Related posts

• No related posts.