Methods, Ineffective

Teachers often cite children’s misbehaviors and conflicts as the most challenging aspect of their job. They know that being effective in classroom management is critical to their success as teachers and to their students’ success as learners. Yet, systematic and structured learning of behavior management is typically absent from teacher education programs, and few colleges and universities offer courses exclusively devoted to classroom management for general education majors.

Therefore, future teachers are left to learn these vital skills during their student teaching, leaving them dependent on the length and quality of that experience, especially on the expertise of their cooperating teachers. However, according to the 2011 comprehensive study of student teaching in the United States conducted by the National Council on Teacher Quality, only about half of cooperating teachers are qualified because half have not been teaching long enough, are not instructionally [Page 505]effective teachers, or do not have the insight or ability to mentor. Furthermore, the study found that cooperating teachers are generally selected based on their willingness, not on their qualifications.

Once in the classroom, novice teachers acclimate to their particular school culture by emulating those around them. If their classroom management role models have been poor, then novice teachers are apt to have established patterns of ineffective practice. Although some schools may offer a mentoring program for new teachers, most do not; opportunities for professional development focused on classroom management may be limited or nonexistent. Without a comprehensive understanding of effective classroom management methods, novice and experienced teachers alike will have a limited repertoire of strategies with which to manage and guide children’s behavior. They will likely implement discipline methods that are not effective because they lack alternatives. All this establishes the need to develop in teachers good practices for evaluating their methods and for distinguishing between those that are effective and those that are not.