Classroom Dynamics: creating a happy learning environment

Striking the perfect balance between the extremes of ultra- discipline and a lassez-fiare “anything goes” approach is not easy. This  post begins by asking various questions and along the way provides some home-spun answers. None of the ideas here are intended to be prescriptive, rather they are intended to be a starting point, working towards a better understanding of what is happening in the classroom.

Before starting, why not take this test:

• In a study conducted by Denis Girad (1970), 1000 students between 12-17 were asked to list teacher qualities in order of preference, 1 being the most important to them and 10 the least important.
  • What do think the results were?
• Scroll to the end of the post to see if you
  • guessed the qualities identified by the students
  • correctly guessed their order…

There is some other material, such as A. Underhill´s Some questions I ask myself (1996), typical of the humanistic approach, which is available.

Following this post I have presented three possible approaches to behaviour management in the classroom. It is not written by TEFLers, but classroom management techniques are, the same no matter what subject you are teaching. Again, none of the three approaches are intended to be mutually exclusive or prescriptive. Real life never is a clean cut and easily defined as it is on paper, so mix and match according to your own particular set of circumstances… Much of this material can be found in its original form at James Burton’s wonderful site: Teacher Education.

Understanding the problem

Trying to understand the problem… is it possible that the discipline problem you think you have is a discipline problem, or could is be a symptom of something else?

Defining the problem…

• What exactly is a discipline problem?
• How can the teacher distinguish between a real problem and an imagined problem?
• Are there any classroom problems can you think of that might masquerade, or present themselves as discipline problems?

Here are some problems. Are they behavioural, disruptive, or learning problems? Are some of these learning strategies?

• “Wanting to write things down when they should be doing oral work.”
• “Subvocalising.” (Reading aloud or reading whilst making the gestures of the text as if the student was being read aloud.)
• Constantly requesting and giving translations.
• Copying everything from the board.
• Using a mobile phone.
• Learning words by heart.
• Trying to say things that they have not learnt and getting it all wrong.
• Resisting trying out new language.
• Complaining that the work is too easy but still with no degree of automaticity combined with a high degree of mistakes, errors and slips.

Which of the above would you attempt to eradicate and how would you go about this?

One possible reason for indiscipline… and a simple cure…

Power: the teacher demands the use of L2. Too much & too soon? Are we throwing the students into a pool of lexis-infested text?

So - make it easy for them: use word pools on the walls. Use them but don’t abandon them, leaving them to collect dust. Move them around and change them constantly, block off words as the students learn them. Keep wall displays dynamic. Give your students models to imitate and lead from the front. In other words: invest the same energy into them as you would like your students to.

Increased discipline means that learners are on task?

Yes. However, the important question should perhaps be: is real learning taking place? Some classroom activities can give the impression that the classroom is well disciplined, but it might be one in which very little learning is taking place.

An example: hangman. How many students are involved with the learning? How much language production is actually going on? How much language coverage is there? What is the aim of this activity? Can the teacher be justified in later complaining that the students insist on learning everything by heart?

‘Quiet please!’ Do students really have to be quiet in class?

Pair and group work can be noisy. Questions that teachers can usefully ask include:

• “are the students on task?”
• “Is learning is actually taking place?”
  • How can the teacher check on such things?

The humanistic classroom and student centered learning…

The humanistic approach is a term sometimes used to describe methods in which the following principles are considered important:

• the development of human values
• growth in self-awareness and the understanding of others
• sensitivity to human feelings and emotions
• active student involvement in learning and in the way that learning takes place.

It is for this last reason that such methods and variations are said to be student centered.The Silent Way and Community Language Learning are examples of “Humanistic approaches”.

Students can take the initiative, but the teacher has to be the one to handover the initiative. This does not necessarily mean handing over power to the students. The teacher is the person who should be in control. However democratic, liberal, rigid, or authoritarian the teacher is, the person with the underlying responsibility for control and for what happens in the classroom is the teacher. Student Centred teaching does not mean that a teacher  gives up.

Is there a correlation between course/lesson planning and discipline?

If lessons and activities are well prepared and organised and match student needs, then as successful lessons are delivered, the teacher’s confidence increases as does students’ trust. The teacher is addressing students’ needs. Having needs met is often what makes people happy.

A totally different question is whether all students are sufficiently aware of the learning and language learning processes demands of their particular course. In other words, are the learners always in a position to understand what their actual learning and linguistic needs are…

Knowing where you have come from, where you are now and where you are going means that you are not lost. Can your learners say the same thing about their course? If not, why not - might they be lost. If they are what can you do about it?

What effect might have a questionnaire have before (and after) trailing a new technique or activity? Are there any other more reliable ways of gauging students’ reactions to you teaching?

Constant improvisation and change does not increase confidence. If anything it will destroy student confidence in the teacher.

How important is it to ensure that the teacher’s and students’ aims are similar? How can this be achieved?

Students may be well disciplined but be unaware of the intentioned outcomes of the course. They may have objectives of their own which the teacher does not know about.

Questionnaires can help the teacher find out about what the students expect from the course. Student expectations may be unrealistic and their real or perceived failure in accomplishing goals will be demoralising.

Explicitly informing the students of the aims of the lesson before starting will indicate that there is a plan behind what you are doing. They know where the end point is, what they have to achieve and in what time scale. They will also be also to assess the effectiveness of the lesson.

Natural charisma versus technique?

What do you possess and how do you use it?

Does you teaching exhaust you? Is it emotionally draining? Is there an aim and rationale behind everything that you do in the classroom? Are you able to reliably repeat the same lesson several times with different students?

What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of charisma and technique? If you had to choose one of the two: which one would it be? Why?

Nuclear stress as an indicator of speaker intention.

Although students may not understand the language being used, most people are very sensitive to tone and nuclear stress. The teacher should try to ensure that what s/he says and thinks are concordant.

Sarcasm does not belong in a foreign language learning classroom. Although students might not recognise the language used to convey sarcasm, the sense-meaning may well be as clear as day. In other words, the words might not be recognised, but the message certainly is.

Further reading: Sound Foundations Underhill 1994.

Problems with adolescents.

• Teacher cannot always expect the students to be intrinsically motivated.
• Often emotionally brittle.
• Peer approval is very important. There is always a risk of students losing face.
• You can positively influence attitudes.
• The challenge needs to be right - not too easy and not too difficult.
• Don’t be unfair.
• Be very positive abut learning and make it easy for them to learn.

In what way is teaching children different to teaching adults?

• Discipline,
• motivation,
• types of activities that appeal,
• the materials that can be used,
• concentration spans,
• and the role and the status of the teacher.

are all factors the differentiate teaching these two groups. Have you ever tried to teach pre-schoolers? Wow! Why not have a look at the short post on Jean Piaget.

What can the teacher do?

Don’t go into class under-prepared. Students identify this very quickly. Be prepared and be knowledgeable. Be ready to be good at what you are trained to do.

Be honest and be true.

At some point all teachers have problems with a class. This is normal and is something only to be expected. Talk to your colleagues. Ask them what they would do. Have a look at the literature. Don’t bury your head in the sand as silent resentment might be building up in one or more students which will only come back to haunt you later.

Record and/or video a class.

This information does not have to be public. Keep it to yourself if you like, or ask someone you trust about whether their impression of what is going on in the class concords with yours or not. If you do keep it to yourself, try to act upon your findings.

Be consistent.

• Also: be clear. You cannot expect anyone to do something for you if they do not know what it is that you want them to do.
• If you have a discipline code, use it and use it consistently. If you don’t then you cannot expect the students to respect it when you do want to use it.
• Don’t threaten: be certain that you are prepared to carry out any threat you have made…
• Don’t raise your voice as you will never win. There are more of them than you.

Don’t give boring classes.

Students can complain saying that classes are boring. Is this always a justified complaint, or do you think that the complaint can be considered generic: an indication that there is something, though undefined, going wrong?

If we were to take Piaget with any degree of seriousness, can we cannot reasonably expect younger learners to be able to identify and then express the nature of the problem they are experiencing.

Important teacher qualities: the quiz answers

Girad; Denis (1970) 1000 students between 12-17 were asked to list teacher qualities in order of preference, 1 being the most important to them and 10 the least important. Here are the results:

1. Makes the course interesting.

2. Teaches good pronunciation.

3. Explains clearly.

4. Speaks good English.

5. Show some interest in ALL students.

6. Makes ALL students participate.

7. Is patient.

8. Insists on L2 to be used orally.

9. Makes pupils work.

10. Uses audio-lingual method.

• The same students were also asked to list qualities of a desirable teacher:

1. Is sympathetic to learners.

2. Is fair: whether the student is good or bad at English.

3. Inspires confidence.

• At no point did any of these students suggest that the teacher should be funny or entertaining. Interesting, yes - but that is not the same as using personal charisma or tricks to entertain…

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