Classroom Control Linked to Relevant Learning
Effective Classroom Management Techniques Involve a Look at Lessons
Oct 10, 2009
Jeff Paulson – an elementary teacher, instructional coach, and educational consultant – works with teachers to improve instructional practice. He has also contracted with the U.S. Department of Education to conduct nationwide professional development for teachers. In this article, he shares his core philosophy behind effective classroom management techniques.
In a nutshell, Paulson believes if students are offered goals for learning that are authentic and relevant, they will work towards those goals and for the most part avoid spending energy in misbehavior. In his opinion, bored kids are the root of many classroom control issues.
To Maintain Classroom Control, Learning Should be Relevant
As a veteran educator, Paulson has been asked by more than one student teacher whether learning should be either fun or challenging. Since he knows the riddle is something of a trick question, he waits patiently until the teachers-in-training supply the punch line, “Learning should be both fun and challenging!”
Though this assessment sounds good, Paulson disagrees with the premise that fun and challenge are the two most important criteria for learning. In his opinion, learning should be first and foremost, relevant.
Paulson acknowledges there are times when learning can and should be challenging, but also believes there are times when learning comes easily and that the amount of struggle isn’t an accurate validation for learning. Also, while he agrees it’s good for people to enjoy learning, he confides some of his most poignant and life-altering lessons were not fun experiences at all.
“So, while learning may not always be challenging or fun,” Paulson sums up, “I think learning should be a vehicle for us to meet our needs and wants. It should be relevant.”
Effective Classroom Management Asks, What Makes Learning Relevant?
Paulson asserts that students, like all people, have a desire to learn for two basic reasons. The first is to meet needs, and the second is for pleasure.
As for the first reason, Paulson comments, “We learn specific skills and bits of knowledge so we can get a job, get money, get food, cook food, find a place to live, pay rent, balance finances, stay out of jail, operate a car, etc. Some things we learn are relevant to our survival.”
As for the second reason people apply themselves to learning, Paulson remarks, “We learn things to have fun, but this doesn’t mean that the learning itself has to be fun. For example, anyone who takes music lessons knows there’s a lot of awkwardness and frustration that goes into learning how to control your body around an instrument. The learning is tedious. It’s the payoff that’s fun! The ability to make people happy with music is worth all the work and discipline that goes into the learning. In another example, some people spend enormous amounts of time learning to play video games because they enjoy the fun they have once their work enables them to master the game.”
Classrooms are microcosms of real-world learning. Every lesson should be relevant to students’ needs and/or wants. “Otherwise,” asks Paulson, “what’s the point?”
How Relevant Learning Impacts Classroom Control
Educators struggling with the idea of relevant learning impacting classroom management may just be able to find some insights at their next faculty meetings or in-services. Paulson laughs, “I often watch teachers in professional development filling out meaningless paper work, participating in activities that are too easy, or being forced to play ice breaker games that have no relevance, and those teachers become the worst behaved bunch in the world. They argue, they read magazines, they check e-mail, they talk over the presenter, they resent their time being wasted.”
According to Paulson, students are no different from adults in this respect. Their behavior is directly correlated to the relevancy of a lesson. “When I was being trained to teach teachers,” Paulson recalls, “I thought, ‘working with teachers is basically like working with kids. They want choices, they want to move, they want their background knowledge and experiences to be taken into account.’ When I went back into my classroom, I had the opposite thought. ‘Working with kids is the same as working with adults. They want choices, they want to be involved, they want their experiences to be honored.’” According to Paulson, when kids believe they are respected and valued, and the work they are asked to do is authentic and relevant, behavior problems go down dramatically.
For a first step toward greater classroom control, teachers can evaluate their lessons to determine whether learning is relevant and appeals to the students’ wants or needs. For more effective classroom management techniques, instructors can check out related articles covering practical ways to make learning relevant through new classroom technology, classroom management strategies which involve teaching respect, and classroom control applied to small group instruction and group projects.
Quotes and information gained through conversation with Jeff Paulson on October 9, 2009.
AIC101
 |
 |
