A Teacher Cannot Manage What They Don't Understand

A Different Era

I attended segregated schools in Chattanooga, TN in the 1960s. I was a talker. I had two teachers that put up with my mouth but often sent me to the office, probably for their own sanity. I later had a fifth grade teacher who handled it herself giving me numerous “U’s” (unsatisfactory) for conduct. I wasn’t disrespectful or actively disruptive. I did get into a fight or two on the playground. In that era, I would have been described as a normal boy.

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There was a tolerance or level of forgiveness that came with attending a school

of middle and upper class students.

I don’t recall my classmates ever getting suspended and I was only paddled once while in elementary school. There was a tolerance or level of forgiveness that came with attending a school of middle and upper class students.

My Teachers’ Challenge

Looking back, teachers might have seen it a bit differently. Even in a community that valued school, running a classroom of around 30 students was difficult. Compliance was considered the key for a healthy learning environment. Some teachers took pride in their disciplinary practices where others expected help from the principal.

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When busing began while I was in eighth grade, student privileges like eating

outside during lunch were curtailed.

Racism and bias brought a more critical eye upon public schools in the 1970s. Reporting on challenges with discipline became common place and critics of the public schools began to use this as evidence of failure. When busing began while I was in eighth grade, student privileges like eating outside during lunch were curtailed. Structure was seen as the key to preventing disruption although there was little evidence that this worked.

Green as an Irish meadow

When I began teaching in 1982, I had numerous struggles that lessened with experience. At 23, I was unprepared for junior high students who knew how to manipulate an unsuspecting teacher while using alliances with other students to keep me off balance.

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New teachers tend to overwhelm an administration with discipline problems.

In the beginning I frequently sent students to the office because I was unable to handle the disruption. New teachers tend to overwhelm an administration with discipline problems. I was no different. As time went by, I developed a useful organizational preparation strategy for my classes. I had fewer problems with students as I gained more experience.

Mastery of Subject Matter is Critical

I was an art teacher with great confidence and interest in drawing, painting and sculpture. I discovered that when I taught those subjects, I had fewer behavior problems because the authenticity of my mastery brought positive results from my students. This taught me to hyper focus on preparation with subjects where I was less confident.

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This provided an opportunity to develop trusting relationships that

carried over into the classroom.

I was also a coach. This provided an opportunity to develop trusting relationships that carried over into the classroom. As I gained more experience in the school community, I had few disciplinary problems in schools considered to have behavioral challenges.

Good Classroom Management is Multifaceted

Disciplinary struggles can come from numerous factors including class size, teacher inexperience, and a school culture neglected by poor leadership. Even in struggling schools, there are teachers who have few problems with student behavior when their approach is authentic and relationship oriented.

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It is critical for school leadership to support teachers with disruptive students.

It is critical for school leadership to support teachers with disruptive students. This does not require a policy of no tolerance for student misbehavior, but an empathy for the challenges that come from students who regularly disrupt the classroom.

Don’t Take it Personally

Discipline problems in schools are a reality. They can be reduced if we give teachers better preparation that includes internships with master teachers and provide services for individual students who struggle in social settings. Including more preparation and collaborative time for veteran teachers would also create a professional value for their work.

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This means trust is very difficult to attain where students interpret

teacher reaction as whether they are liked or not.

The first thing teachers need to learn about student behavior is that it is not about the instructor. If they do not know this when they first take the classroom the conflict with troubled students tends to become personal and emotional. This means trust is very difficult to attain where students interpret teacher reaction as whether they are liked or not.

Experience with Challenging People

Unless a novice teacher has had experience with challenging people, the probability of success with undisciplined students is low. This is why the maturity of a neophyte should be nurtured before that person is left in charge of a classroom of children. We should do this through a developmental model that starts with a prospective educator working under the tutelage of a master instructor.

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So much of disciplinary struggle with teachers is based on

reputation whether deserved or not.

The veteran would not only help with disciplinary strategies, but how to gain the confidence of parents and establish a positive reputation with families and other adults. So much of disciplinary struggle with teachers is based on reputation whether deserved or not.

Success in the classroom requires a social and intellectual dexterity that engenders student trust. An intentional effort to support teachers through opportunities for academic and personal experience is critical. Good teachers are not born; they evolve through encounters with instructional content and people. This requires a commitment from education policy makers and society to get them there.

© Paul A Bonner