Before taking this course, I always held a view that the blame for discipline problems inside classrooms was utterly on students; it was students' duty to behave well at school and pay respect to teachers so no misbehaviors could be tolerated no matter what the reasons behind were. Recalling my past experience of being a tutorial class teacher, I remember the way of dealing with my class at that time was to "control" it instead of "managing" it. In front of my students, I always appeared to be the absolute authority that required students to utterly follow my instructions and orders. I was however inspired by the new and opposite idea that classroom management was actually about "teacher's behavior and activities that encourage learning in the classroom".
Among the numerous principles or strategies introduced, I am particularly interested in Ginott's theory of building harmonious and effective communication with students, which has never appeared in my past teaching experience.
Betonwerksteinskulptur "Lehrer-Student" von Reinha...
Teacher with students in Benin classroom
Classroom with students and teachers - NARA - 2857...He emphasizes a two-way communication in the sense that teachers should convey concise messages and rational requests to students while at the same time being a good listener and inviting students to express their views. The atmosphere within the classroom always determines if a lesson can be conducted effectively. Not to mention, the more harmonious atmosphere the classroom has, the more effective the learning will be of the students. In order to achieve a peaceful learning environment and a quality school life, Ginott suggested that teachers should improve their relationship with students by reviewing their ways of talking and responding to students.
Nobody likes being insulted or unfairly criticized of their personality when making mistakes, and so do students. In fact, teachers' insults and criticism on students will very often lead to anxiety and anger, resulting in more rebellious behavior or even...