Grazzia Maria Mendoza Chirinos

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47133/tegc_ch21  

ABSTRACT

As of their first day in a classroom, new teachers need to manage their class, promote interactive engagement, and ensure meaningful learning. However, when combined, classroom management and student engagement can be very challenging, especially for language teachers who need to implement oral interactive tasks as frequently as possible. Though pleased when students are fully engaged and interactively learning, we might worry when student interaction increases so much that it could lead to unruly behavior. In this chapter, you will explore evidence-based strategies, techniques, and tips to promote student engagement as an essential part of positive classroom management. You will learn how to adapt these strategies in varied learning contexts while promoting positive student behavior. You will also learn about encouraging students to engage and interact freely, helping them assume responsibility for their own actions, and guiding them to reach higher levels of dependability. 

Keywords: student interaction, classroom management, interactive engagement, mindfulness

How to cite this chapter: 

Mendoza Chirinos, G. (2023). Connecting Student Interaction With Classroom Management. In V. Canese & S. Spezzini (Eds.), Teaching English in Global Contexts, Language, Learners and Learning (pp. 257-265). Editorial Facultad de Filosofía, UNA. https://doi.org/10.47133/tegc_ch21

INTRODUCTION

In our respective teacher preparation programs, we learn techniques and strategies to establish classroom management, foster positive student behavior, and maintain discipline. While pursuing our degree programs, we read extensively and observe frequently but often have limited opportunities to put management ideas into practice. When we become teachers in our own classroom, we begin implementing management techniques and strategies to determine if they will work in a specific context. We discover that some strategies work well while others fail miserably. The latter may make us feel frustrated and may even generate tension and a negative classroom ambience. By trying out several different management strategies, we begin identifying some that work well for us.  

During your own studies and practicum experiences in English language teaching, you probably read different guidelines for classroom management, researched strategies to maintain discipline by keeping learners on task, and perhaps observed creative management styles of teachers in diverse contexts. During this time, you may have also worked as an English teacher. If so, perhaps you planned a lesson in detail only to witness it fail because of issues related to classroom management. This chapter can help you minimize such issues by proactively planning and implementing strategies that connect student interaction with classroom management. By making such connections, you can enhance lesson delivery and ensure effective learning.  

BACKGROUND

Effective classroom management is of such importance in meeting lesson objectives that it is a major feature of most teacher preparation programs (Davis, 2017). Exploring issues related to classroom management often start early in a teacher preparation program even though the teaching practicum might not occur until much later. Based on research, several recommended techniques can be very effective at helping manage classrooms while also maintaining positive student behavior (Hepburn & Beamish, 2019). 

Classroom management is much broader than student discipline, calm environments, seating arrangements, and smooth transitions between activities. Classroom management also entails learner motivation, engagement, and empowerment as well as learner interaction during team activities (e.g., pairs and groups). It even includes a teacher’s ability for capturing learner attention, for directing and facilitating activities, and for ensuring relevant learning. Practical experiences for helping teachers put into practice all aspects of teaching, including classroom management, can often be found in teacher preparation standards. For example, the national standards of Paraguay inform content requirements and require that teachers have “substantial practical experience through a mentoring program” (World Bank, 2012, p. 6). This implies that teachers-in-training receive competency development and classroom management experience.

To ensure effective teaching and learning, teachers need to know about classroom management tools and, also, participate in relevant activities. Such activities entail ample teaching practice and classroom experiences for pre-service teachers and continuous professional development for in-service teachers. Such preparation presupposes teachers’ awareness of pedagogical goals and of learner interactions at the classroom level. However, to facilitate these outcomes, classroom management practices must go beyond managing discipline and ensuring silence within the classroom and, instead, be focused on managing for learning. Classroom management for learning considers organization, engaged and orderly work environments, and established routines (Tsui, 2003). It also involves maintaining the learners’ motivation while ensuring their engagement.

To implement an integral classroom management process, Embry and Biglan (2008) described kernels that are “fundamental units of behavioral influence” and used these kernels to define actions that support classroom management. Kernels, as described in the clinical psychology realm, provide the basic support needed to develop relationships with learners, provide sound strategies for classroom management, and are quite intuitive for teachers to use. Kernels include non-verbal clues, extensive modeling, discreet praise, greetings, mindfulness, on-the-spot feedback, recognition of changes in student behavior, and responsible decision making. Using kernels is an important contribution and practice not only as tools to build peaceful classroom environments but also as instructional strategies (Kosar et al., 2020). Validated by research, such strategies are simple to incorporate into lessons without causing unnecessary disruptions. 

Abundant research worldwide shows that classroom management is a fundamental piece of effective teaching. Yet, such research also shows high levels of disengagement in classrooms and increased numbers of behavioral issues in schools (Armstrong, 2018). To bridge this gap, practitioners in different contexts have incorporated strategies that maximize learner engagement and minimize behavioral disruptions. In other words, by implementing multiple opportunities for active learner participation, you can link learner engagement with classroom management.  By doing so, you will create a strong foundation of structure and support for learning while, also, forging a path toward positive classroom ambience.

MAJOR DIMENSIONS

To be an effective teacher who facilitates student learning in your classroom, incorporate recommended management strategies when organizing your instructional setting and planning your student activities. Many of these strategies are related to behavior, environment, expectations, materials, and activities. Other strategies are related to active learning, relevance, assessment, and curriculum. To further enhance positive behaviors and self-regulation, consider incorporating strategies that foster social emotional learning (SEL; Bridgeland et al., 2013) and mindfulness (Kosar et al., 2020).

To support positive student behavior, enter the classroom with happy facial expressions and a positive attitude. Offer encouraging phrases, provide on-the-spot praise that is real and from the heart, and do actions that represent fairness and respect. Create a welcoming environment in your classroom with visuals that stimulate learners and are strategically organized to set the stage for learning. Make sure that the lighting is appropriate for learners to meet the learning purpose. Establish expectations in collaboration with your learners based on their needs and interests while also considering the curriculum and your teaching goals. Design a roadmap of how the lessons will evolve with input from all involved and establish agreements (“contracts”) regarding learner behavior and teacher behavior. Select materials at the learners’ level with sufficient challenges to promote growth and learning. Make sure that such materials are varied, permitting exposure to different technologies for developing student competency. Provide additional resources for learners who wish to further explore these topics. Finally, choose activities that enhance the learners’ experience by piquing their curiosity, appealing to their interests, and sparking their passion, thereby launching these learners on a new intellectual pursuit. Together, these aspects will foster learner engagement and facilitate achieving the desired learning goals. 

Active teachers facilitate the learning process, and active learning influences positive behavior. In other words, when learners are actively experiencing and constructing learning, they usually stay on task, thus minimizing discipline issues. To influence positive behavior, learning must be meaningful, relevant, and connected. Such learning can become even more relevant through scaffolded instruction that creates interconnectedness between known concepts and new concepts. This, in turn, heightens the possibility of building autonomous and independent lifelong learning (Hagel, 2021). 

With regards to assessment, move away from the traditional pen-and-paper evaluations. Instead, include various formats for assessing dynamically, thereby allowing learners to develop their skills in context. This type of dynamic assessment encompasses self and peer assessments of task-based learning such as through projects, portfolios, and student exhibits (e.g., displays at community fairs). When assessing, always consider your institutional curriculum as well as your personal curriculum, which represents your assessment adaptations based on students, classroom context, and available resources. Finally, to further strengthen your assessment efforts, establish positive relationships with your students, thereby creating a collaborative classroom environment where students can learn as partners. 

To enable a holistic approach toward classroom management, incorporate SEL elements and mindfulness techniques. This will serve to develop skills that boost learner confidence, allow self-regulation, and optimally manage stress and anxiety. As such, this will allow learners to become resilient and be open to other perspectives. Through these SEL-based elements, learners will be better able to communicate and collaborate (Spencer, 2021). In turn, the elements of mindfulness (being present, being aware, focusing attention) provide relevance in managing behaviors. Mindfulness prepares learners to focus their attention and gives them physical and psychological benefits by lowering the heart rate, improving circulation, reducing physical stress responses, decreasing anxiety, and decreasing irritability and moodiness as well as improving the ability to learn, enhancing memory, strengthening emotional stability, and increasing the ability to manage problems effectively. These benefits are highly connected and will influence positive behavior in the classroom, thereby minimizing the need to implement direct classroom management techniques. 

PEDAGOGICAL APPLICATIONS

To ensure effective classroom management, you need a comprehensive plan. Your classroom management plan should include the following elements: clarity about expectations, recognition of appropriate behavior, actions to reduce negative behaviors, engagement activities, and clear classroom structure.

Clarity about expectations entails aligning expectations with what the institution expects. This includes contextual adaptations that vary depending on the classroom context: students, time of day, physical spaces, and resources. These expectations must be explicit and positively described. They must also be modeled, actively supervised, and continuously reinforced. 

Recognition of appropriate behavior means recognizing behavior with truthful, specific, and contingent praise. In addition, teachers and learners should reach agreement on recognizing appropriate behaviors through tokens, rewards, or other aspects within a gamification system. Tokens and rewards can be redeemed for additional breaks, early release, or a motivating intellectual gift. Upon reaching certain expectations in an instructional gamification activity, learners can earn badges to showcase, such as digital stickers in social media or physical stickers in a highly visible location (e.g., a bulletin board). 

Actions to reduce negative behaviors are consequences known in advance by students. Such consequences take different forms such as warnings, loss of certain privileges, or positive-oriented actions. These could be volunteering to do something or delivering a session to peers about integrity, discipline, and positive relationships. The latter allows learners to understand their errors and address them positively rather than being ashamed of their mistakes. Whenever possible, consequences should produce a positive behavior that creates change. 

Engagement activities are achieved by setting the stage and creating lessons that meet the needs and interests of learners and are designed at their grade level. Such activities are embedded in lessons and focus on solving a problem or creating solutions for something that directly affects learners. This can be achieved through project- and task-based learning as well as through digital media. The latter entices learners’ interest, allows them to connect with other contexts and realities, and helps them develop their social emotional skills. 

Clear classroom structure requires predictable classroom routines and procedures as well as the strategic use of space. Such aspects minimize distractions and allow learners to feel safe and secure. The seating arrangement should allow varied instructional formats, which, in turn, will support collaborative learning. Flexible seating is key to maintain learners engaged and, also, ensure their smooth transition from task to task. These aspects of classroom structure set the stage for teaching and learning.

In this chapter, you learned to consider several aspects for creating your classroom management plan. You learned that, depending on the learning context, you can adapt your management plan. You also learned that this plan is your roadmap for effective instruction and student engagement. However, for this plan to work effectively and for learning to occur successfully, you will need to establish rapport with your learners and continually nurture these relationships.

Here are some key concepts about classroom management:

• Classroom management is intrinsically linked to learner engagement.

• Research on effective classroom management provides the foundation to make informed decisions and needed adaptations based on your teaching context.

• Using diverse strategies for classroom management does not imply policing your learners.

• Find multiple resources on the web, try implementing them to support your teaching practice, and explore what works best depending on the learners in each specific context.

• Involve your learners in classroom management strategies that serve to increase their accountability and self-regulation.

• Create a space of harmony in your classroom and support fruitful learning for your learners by providing self-regulation strategies, incorporating mindfulness techniques, and implementing activities to develop skills for social emotional learning.

Based on what you have learned about classroom management, answer these questions:

1. What are key considerations for English teachers in your country with respect to implementing classroom management strategies?

2. Should institutional policies be changed to create awareness of connections between classroom management and learner engagement? Why or why not? If so, how?

3. What are some classroom management practices that (a) you have implemented, (b) you have seen others implement, and (c) you would like to implement in your classroom for greater effectiveness?

To practice what you have learned in this chapter, do the following:

1. Select one of the classroom management strategies from this chapter and use it in your classroom. After using this strategy for a while and determining its effectiveness, select another strategy and use it for a while. Then try out other classroom management strategies—but always try just one new strategy at a time. 

2. As part of your classroom management strategies, build a support network among learners so that they have a safe place among peers to share and learn with each other.

3. To further connect student interaction with classroom management, share SEL strategies with parents and guide them with fostering SEL outside of the school setting.

4. Create a Community of Practice (Short et al., 2018; Wenger & Snyder, 2000) with colleagues to share what is working in everyone’s classroom with respect to connecting student interaction with classroom management.

5. Engage in professional development through your local English teacher association, such as the affiliate of the TESOL International Association in your region or country (e.g., PARATESOL in Paraguay).

To learn more about student interaction and classroom management, visit these websites:

• Behavior management practical tips. https://my.chartered.college/impact_article/behaviour-management-practical-tips/ 

• Compassionate communication. https://www.nonviolentcommunication.com  

• Helpful classroom management strategies. https://www.thoughtco.com/helpful-classroom-management-strategies-3194626 

• Mindfulness. https://www.mindful.org  

• Quick classroom-management tips for novice teachers. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/classroom-management-tips-novice-teachers-rebecca-alber 

• SEL in the secondary classroom (Webinar). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlQKrm1ITeY  

• SEL: Dave Spencer on You Tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6npdSCMuO4   

• World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/18026/discover 

Student interaction and classroom management are also addressed by other chapters in this book:

Chapter 5 Building Relationships With Language Learners by S. Montiel

Chapter 6 Supporting Learners’ Social Emotional Learning by G. Mendoza

Chapter 13 Designing Learner-Centered Classrooms to Promote Active Learning by H. Kaiser

Chapter 20 Creating an ELT Classroom Community by B. Crosbie and D. Carter

Chapter 22 Strengthening Communication Through Classroom Discourse by K. Buckley-Ess

Chapter 25 Preparing to Teach Through Effective Lesson Planning by H. Lalwani

Chapter 27 Implementing Actionable Gamification Design in ELT by F. Esquivel

Armstrong, D. (2018). Addressing the wicked problem of behavior in schools. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 22(9), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2017.1413732

Bridgeland, J., Bruce, M., & Hariharan, A. (2013, January). The missing piece: A national teacher survey on how social and emotional learning can empower children and transform schools. Civic Enterprises; Peter D. Hart Research Associates. 

Davis, J. (2017). Classroom management in teacher education programs. Palgrave Studies in Urban Education.

Embry, D. D., & Biglan, A. (2008). Evidence-based kernels: Fundamental units of behavioral influence. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 11(3), 75–113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-008-0036-x

Hagel III, J. (2021, October 11). What motivates lifelong learners: Organizational learning. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/10/what-motivates-lifelong-learners 

Hepburn, L., & Beamish, W. (2019). Towards implementation of evidence-based practices for classroom management in Australia: A review of research. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 44(2), 82-98. http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2018v44n2.6 

Kosar, H., Hoek, L., & Jiang, L. (2020) Improving psychosocial wellbeing of international students: The relevance of mindfulness. British Journal of Guidance and Counseling, 48(4), 524-536. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2019.1600189 

Short, D., Becker, H., Cloud, N., Hellman, A., & Levine, L. (2018). The 6 principles for exemplary teaching of English learners. TESOL Press. 

Spencer, J. (2021, March 29). John Spencer. The Powerful Combination of PBL and SEL. https://spencerauthor.com/the-powerful-combination-of-pbl-and-sel/ 

Tsui, A. B. M. (2003). Understanding expertise in teaching: Case studies of second language teachers. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139524698

Wenger, E., & Snyder, W. (2000, January-February). Communities of practice: The organizational frontier. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/archive-toc/BR001

World Bank. (2012). Systems approach for better education results: Paraguay. Open Knowledge Repository. http://wbgfiles.worldbank.org/documents/hdn/ed/saber/supporting_doc/CountryReports/TCH/SABER_Teachers_Paraguay_CR_Final_2013.pdf.

Grazzia María Mendoza Chirinos, education specialist at USAID Honduras, supports the Ministry of Education regarding quality education and safe learning spaces projects. With master’s degrees in international education (Framingham State University, USA) and teaching English to speakers of other languages (Francisco Morazan National Pedagogical University, Honduras), Grazzia has been a language educator, teacher trainer, and consultant for 29 years. She was recognized by the U.S. State Department for teacher professional growth projects and by the TESOL International Association for service (Virginia French Allen Service Award). Grazzia has served as a TESOL board member and finance committee chair, founder/inaugural president of Honduras TESOL (HELTA), and president of the Latin American and Caribbean TESOL.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5994-7813 

Email for correspondence regarding this chapter: grazziem01@yahoo.com

Cover Photo by Zainul Yasni on Unsplash