Rules and Procedures - An Analysis of Positive Classroom Environment

 

Rules and Procedures - An Analysis of Positive Classroom Environment

Author: Santosh Kumar Biswa, Sr. Teacher, Damphu CS, Tsirang, Bhutan

Abstract

All teachers around the world desire to make their classrooms safe for better outcomes by enforcing quality rules for effective classroom management. According to Schreiner (2020), effective classroom management leads to the creation of a successful and productive classroom with a cooperative learning environment which can result in successful academic excellence. It is through effective behavioral management that sanity can be achieved. The teacher should be well equipped with a meaningful planning process, but many fail to manage well and experience multiple disruptive behaviors in the classroom. The teacher wishing to enforce classroom rules and procedures well will always aim to transform his students not only academically, but also to bring wholesome development in creating better people in the society that they are going to lead their life through proper observation and reflection (Nguyen, 2019).

How certain Rules and Procedures can promote or hinder a Positive Classroom Environment?

Any kind of classroom rules are the foundation for the proper functioning of the classroom that aims to achieve desired goals and it varies based on the procedure any individual teacher follows while implementing it based on the type of acceptable or non-acceptable behaviors (LearnWell, 2021). Classroom rules and procedures are created to make teaching and learning safe and act properly in the classroom to improve the learning process. Certain rules promote a positive classroom environment.

For instance, building strong relationships allows any teacher to individualize their classroom management plan that would either encourage or interest students to follow them with full cooperation. Having effective rules and procedures always keeps the classroom safe and organized without hindrance. Such classrooms will not have any disciplinary issues because they hardly get opportunities to misbehave starting from verbal conflict to a physical fight (Schreiner, 2020). Thus, the safety of the classroom is well maintained. It promotes team building through respectable students' engagement in acquiring problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Moreover, the rooms to create mutual respect for one another can be possible for a teacher so that there will be increased classroom participation without behavioral interruptions that contribute to a positive learning environment. It allows teachers to build positive relationships in the classroom in preparing them for adulthood through the creation of awareness of laws and the norms in the workplace. Finally, students learn to respect the law in their workplace and later in their community (Schreiner, 2020) because they become aware of the cause-and-effect of the type of relations they build between actions and consequences (PLB, 2021).

However, in some cases, certain rules and procedures can hinder a positive classroom environment. For instance, some teachers may end up using the set rules inconsistently and may not be able to take care of all the intended areas which will hinder the management process due to the increase in misbehavior in the classroom. Sometimes, the students who frequently encounter punishment due to their misbehavior may result in them giving up and continue doing it, evermore (Levibgs, 2020) disrupting the class with negative effects on other students.

Failure to identify the underlying issues of the students and trying not to solve them with their backstories may hinder classroom management because sometimes students may have a difficult time coping with situations at home and on top of that teacher adds to them in the name of rules results in failure in following the procedures. Despite having rules and procedures in hand, according to Levibgs (2020), he stated that teachers can be inconsistent with their personalities. The personality of the teachers plays a vital role when coming to class management and depends on the philosophy of the teachers. The mismatch with the philosophy will lead to inconsistency. Moreover, the rules can be stringent in the class but if the action that the teacher juxtaposes in the classroom appears to be cheap and easygoing, the students can take advantage of the situation. On the other hand, boring lessons often make students feel uninspired and divert their attention towards other things happening in the classroom. Such acts really hinder classroom management because the teacher is not able to engage students through the lesson and he may end up taking things personally (Busyteacher_Admin, 2021).

 

Types of Rules and Procedures That Should Be Encouraged and Discouraged

Effective classroom rules and procedures are crucial in instilling high-quality behaviors in students. It depends on the types of rules and procedures a teacher designs. Not all the rules and procedures that we designed are applicable to all classroom settings, some may be discouraged based on the scenario of the classroom.

The type of rules that should be encouraged in the classroom is that they should be always short or less which aims to improve behavioral aspects of students through consistent value-based rules.  Too many rules for the classroom are often unachievable and rules that are negatively influenced will invite disruptive behavior in the classroom. Rules should not be something that aims to punish students, they should focus mainly on transforming students into better people who can critically and creatively handle difficult situations in life. Rules are to be general in nature and encompass only a few ideas that are easy to remember and meaningful that really focus on promoting safety in the classroom, creating a respectable environment that promotes respect among the members in the classroom, making everyone respect the views of others and follow the direction appropriately, Enabling the student to work for their success without delay (Bennett, 2018). The procedures to adopt such rules are also to be positively influenced. The procedures to fulfill the rules set should ensure the usage of classroom materials with safety measures so that they remain intact for future usage. On the other hand, the teacher should ensure that there isn’t a case of bullying or beating as it has negative impacts on students. Using encouraging and kind words without judging or comparing with anyone, encouraging them to listen well to their friends and teachers, and responding in respectable manners contribute to positive outcomes.

Moreover, the procedure on how to submit the assignment, when and where, and meeting deadlines are to be highlighted, and certain norms on completing the classroom and home tasks. Most importantly, the procedure to manage self-disciplining, behavior, and action should be clearly highlighted for self-reflection with other improvement plans so that students learn to transform themselves in their own way (Bennett, 2018). The psychological aspects of students should be taken care of while designing any rules and procedures. The procedures should include ample chance for students to drill themselves into the focused area of discipline, not through punishing them.

According to Study.com (2003-2021), it states that dealing with students who bridge the rules inappropriately, with unacceptable tones before explaining to the class the consequences for their misconduct should be avoided because it not only demotivates students but also hampers them psychologically. I believe that they should be handled wisely in advance while designing the rules and procedures to avoid consequences. The best thing is to assure students in advance about the consequences that they will face when they break the rules (PositiveAction, 2021). Thus, children grow well positively if they are trained positively through the means of proper disciplining.

How can a Teacher Assess his Creation of a Positive Classroom Environment through the Implementation of Rules and Procedures?

The teacher knows how well he created a positive classroom environment using rules and procedures in the classroom by conducting self-reflection and self-assessment with the use of self-assessment tools. It can enable the teacher to exactly find out where they are behind and where they actually need to focus. Moreover, it will enable them to come up with a way forward for better monitoring and intervention. The ways that they can adopt this are through maintaining a Self-Reflective Journal that would enable them to reflect upon what happened during the lesson or while disciplining students, introducing Student Observation by making them give feedback to the teacher, by making colleagues comment on the findings derived and seeking the way forward for future implementation, professional development of self through online researching and learning on classroom management, and analyzing and reflecting on daily activities to find out the ways the class went (Cox, 2014). To make it go well, the teacher can even design the self-assessment tools based on the intended focused areas and analyze the outcome after every class or every day. Such means keeping the teachers on track about the happening in the class in maintaining effective classroom management. It is the medium that helps teachers to recognize the areas of improvement needed, increases self-awareness, boosts an ability to recognize his/her weaknesses and strengths, identify students’ needs to let them move forward (The Juice Team, 2021).

On the other hand, teaching and making students self-reflect also play a pivotal role in enhancing the learning process (Dawson, n.d.) because students would be able to examine their behavior and their achievement. They can know where they are based on the rules and procedures devised and plan their own way forward for self-improvement. This will promote independence and learning by discovering through critical and reflective processes. According to Dawson (n.d.), he stated that making students reflect on themselves means making them teach themselves. It is very true because it involves realization and learning in which they would be able to derive values after the reflection is completed.

Conclusion

To conclude, the effectiveness of the rules and procedures purely depends on how well and logically the teacher implements them in the classroom and it also depends on the way students follow. The teacher should be well acquainted with the student’s behavioral status and habits and should be approachable to meet their needs so that the classroom management system goes well. According to McEwan (1997), teachers need to teach his/her students to be responsible for their own actions and the rules are to be designed based on the observations made on their behaviors. In this, the student-teacher relationship plays a vital role in the success of the class and if the teacher and students create the rules jointly it builds trust between them (Resevear, 2009). 

Reference

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Dawson, G. (n.d.). Teaching self-reflection: A necessary part of the learning process. Retrieved September 17, 2021 https://freshgrade.com/blog/teaching-self-reflection-a-necessary-part-of-the-learning-process/

 

LearnWell. (2021). The Importance Of Classroom Rules & Procedures For Hospital Classrooms. Retrieved September 17, 2021 from https://learnwellservices.com/classroom-rules-procudures/

 

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McEwan, B. (1997). Contradiction, paradox, and irony: The world of classroom management. In R.E. Butchart & B. McEwan (eds) Classroom discipline in American schools (chapter 5), 66-75. Retrieved September 17, 2021 from https://www.alfiekohn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/landau.pdf

 

Nguyen, T. L. (2019). GOOD TO GREAT “TEACHER”: Why and How We Should Build-up from Effective Instructional Techniques to Positive Classroom Rules. Retrieved September 17, 2021 from https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/good-to-great-teacher-why-and-how-we-should-build-up-from-effective-instructional-techniques-to-71acbf0d49d8

 

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Schreiner, E. (2020). What Are the Benefits of Classroom Management? Retrieved September 17, 2021 from https://classroom.synonym.com/benefits-classroom-management-6374960.html

 

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The Juice Team. (2021). The Importance of Self-Reflection in Teaching. Retrieved September 17, 2021 from https://thejuicelearning.com/blog/importance-self-reflection-teaching/