Classroom Management Strategies for Social Change

Classroom Management Strategies for Social Change

ASSIGNMENT: This component includes developing interesting and motivating activities and strategies for classroom management and organization in your classroom. You will be developing a variety of introductory activities (anticipatory sets) to assist you in:

·      Motivating students

·      Addressing unique learning styles

·      Addressing varied diversities of students.

You will create four (4) introductory activities that meet specific learning goals and objectives as well as address the needs of diverse learners in a positive motivational atmosphere.

MOTIVATING STUDENTS:

Intrinsic Motivation – includes a fascination with the subject, a sense of its relevance to life and the world, a sense of accomplishment in mastering it, and a sense of calling to it.

A Model for Intrinsic Motivation

·      First, given the opportunity to engage in problem-solving and critical thinking learning activity, a student determines if the activity is one that is known to be interesting. If so, the student engages in the activity.

·      If not, then the student evaluates the activity on two factors—the stimulation (e.g. challenge, curiosity, fantasy) it provides and the personal control (e.g. free choice, not too difficult) it affords (Bandura, 1971, 1977, 1986).

·      If the student perceives the activity as stimulating and controllable, then the student tentatively labels the activity as interesting and engages in it. If either condition becomes insufficient, then the student disengages from the activity—unless some extrinsic motivator influences the student to continue.

·      If the activity is repeatedly deemed stimulating and controllable, then the student may deem the activity interesting. Then the student will be more likely to engage in the activity in the future.

·      If over time activities that are deemed interesting provide little stimulation or control, then the student will remove the activity from his or her mental list of interesting activities.

The challenge, then, is to provide teaching and learning activities that are both stimulating and offer students a degree of personal control. Advantages: Intrinsic motivation can be long-lasting and self-sustaining. Efforts to build this kind of motivation are also typically efforts at promoting student learning. Such efforts often focus on the subject rather than on rewards or punishments. Disadvantages: On the other hand, efforts at fostering intrinsic motivation can be slow to affect behavior and can require special and lengthy preparation. Students are individuals, so a variety of approaches may be needed to motivate different students. It is often helpful to know what interests one’s students in order to connect these interests with the subject matter. This requires getting to know one’s students. Also, it helps if the instructor is interested in the subject, to begin with (Middleton, 1995).

ADDRESSING UNIQUE LEARNING STYLES:

Diverse Student Learners include students from racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse families and communities of lower socioeconomic status. A meta-analysis of 272 research studies found that the most effective form of teaching children who are diverse student learners is Direct Instruction.

In general usage, the term Direct Instruction refers to (1) instructional approaches that are structured, sequenced, and led by teachers, and/or (2) the presentation of academic content to students by teachers, such as in a lecture or demonstration. In other words, teachers are “directing” the instructional process, or instruction is being “directed” at students.

While a classroom lecture is perhaps the image most commonly associated with Direct Instruction, the term encompasses a wide variety of fundamental teaching techniques and potential instructional scenarios. For example, presenting a video or film to students could be considered a form of direct instruction (even though the teacher is not actively instructing students, the content and presentation of the material were determined by the teacher). Generally speaking, Direct Instruction may be the most common teaching approach in the United States, since teacher-designed and teacher-led instructional methods are widely used in American public schools.

ADDRESSING VARIED DIVERSITIES OF STUDENTS:

That said, it’s important to note that teaching techniques such as Direct Instruction, Differentiation, or Scaffolding to name just a few, are rarely mutually exclusive—Direct Instruction may be integrated with any number of other instructional approaches in a given course or lesson. For example, teachers may use direct instruction to prepare students for an activity in which the students work collaboratively on a group project with guidance and coaching from the teacher as needed - the group activity would not be considered a form of direct instruction (Hidden Curriculum, 2014)

As these student’s progress through school, most teachers do not expect them to do well either and often remark that they should have learned the material in earlier grades. Many adolescents do not express confidence in their own ability—they do not trust or value their own thinking. The strengths of students can be identified through interest surveys, interviews, and discussions, and through learning about and understanding students' reading histories. These activities will help teachers get to know their students. For many students, having a personal connection with at least one teacher can make a difference in their response to school. Knowing students' interests makes it easier for teachers to choose materials that will “hook” students and motivate them to engage attendance rather than truancy and in their own learning. Teachers should provide multiple learning opportunities in which students can experience success and can begin to build confidence in their ability to read, write, and think at high levels.

References:

Bandura, A. (1970). Modeling theory: Some traditions, trends, and disputes. In W. Sahakian (Ed.), Psychology of learning: Systems, models, and theories. Chicago Markham.

Bandura, A. (1971). Analysis of modeling processes. In A. Bandura (Ed.), Psychological modeling: Conflicting theories (pp. 1–62). Chicago, IL: Aldine-Atherton Press.

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bandura A. (1986). Observational learning. In A. Bandura (1986), Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-   Hall. (pp. 169-195).

Hidden Curriculum, (2014). Direct Instruction, Differentiation, or Scaffolding: Retrieved from https://www.edglossary.org/glossary/d/

Middleton, J. A., (1995). “A Study of Intrinsic Motivation in the Mathematics Classroom: A Personal Constructs Approach,” Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, Vol. 26, No. 3, pages 255-257.