PRED 115:

Classroom Management
Chapter 1:
MODULE NO. 5
Gaining Student Cooperation
I. INTRODUCTION

FOSTERING COOPERATION AND PREVENTING

DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS
The introduction of "learning teams" into the classroom is an
effective method for increasing the number of students willing
to make an effort to learn in school. The teams usually work together on
long-term assignments, although sometimes students remain together in
duos, triads or quadrants for the entire day. In these groups, each individual
is responsible for assuring that the other team members learn the assigned
material. Those who understand the lesson/material are responsible for
teaching it to the others. Groups progress to a new unit of study when all
members of the group have mastered the lesson.
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II. ANTICIPATED LEARNING OUTCOMES

In a rigorous study and apprehension of this module,

learners are expected to:
 Develop strategies for establishing a classroom climate that is
conducive to students cooperatively engaging in the business of
learning.
 Develop organizational techniques and employ technologies for
establishing a businesslike classroom climate, demonstrating with-it-
ness, and efficiently managing transition times.

III. DISCUSSION

 Establishing a Favorable Climate for Cooperation

 CREATING A BUSINESSLIKE CLIMATE

The Advantage of a Businesslike Atmosphere
Why would you want your classroom to have a businesslike
atmosphere? I want a businesslike atmosphere in my classroom so I can do
my job of leading student to achieve worthwhile, meaningful learning goals
without spending inordinate amounts of energy and time dealing with
matters that distract me from doing that job.

A businesslike classroom refers to a learning environment in which the

students and the teacher conduct themselves in ways suggesting that
achieving specified learning goals takes priority over other concerns. Surely,
even with a businesslike atmosphere, activities other than those directly
related to academic lessons take place. Lunch counts may be taken,
attendance may be taken, school-wide announcements may be heard, visits
may be made to the toilet, pleasant socializing may take place, equipment
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may be repaired, the room may be rearranged, and a joke may evoke
laughter. In a businesslike classroom, however, such deviations from the
business of learning are dispatched efficiently. Engagement in certain
learning activities may be fun for some students but pure drudgery for
others. But in either case, engagement is considered important, serious
business. Purposefulness characterizes a businesslike atmosphere.

Five Steps toward a Businesslike Atmosphere

1. You must sincerely believe that the learning activities you plan for your
students are vital to the achievement of worthwhile learning goals.
2. Do not expect your students to place any more importance on learning
activities than you do.
3. Do not tell students that a learning activity is important; it is usually a
waste of time.
4. You communicate its importance by the behaviors you model and the
attitudes you display.
5. You establish a businesslike atmosphere in your classroom by:
a) taking advantage of the beginning of a new school year or term
to set the stage for cooperation;
b) being demonstratively prepared, organized, and with-it (Kounin,
1977);
c) minimizing transition time;
d) using a communication style that encourages a comfortable,
nonthreatening environment where students are free to go about
the business of learning without fear of embarrassment,
harassment, or harm; and
e) clearly establishing expectations for conduct.
 Planning for a Favorable Beginning
Do not simply hope for a favorable beginning; plan for it. At least 2
weeks before you prepare for the first class meeting, spend some time alone
in your classroom. Visualize exactly what you want to be going on in that
classroom during the middle of the upcoming school session. Picture yourself
conducting different learning activities and managing transition times. Plan
operation so that you can efficiently meet those responsibilities. Anticipate
problems that might arise (e.g., supplies that don’t arrive and students who
refuse to follow directions) and simulate alternative ways for you to respond
to them. Evaluate different alternatives. Only after you’ve had a week or so
to reflect on exactly how you want your class to operate are you ready to
plan for the new school year or term.

 Learning Activities Conducive to a Favorable Beginning

Engaging students in learning activities with easy-to-follow,
uncomplicated directions during the early part of a new school session has
two advantages:
a) Your students can immediately get to the business of learning without
bewilderment about “What are we supposed to be doing?”
b) Students learn that your directions are understandable; consequently,
they will be willing to attend to them in the future. If students are
confused by your initial directions, they are less likely to try to
understand subsequent ones.
Later, after students have developed a pattern of attending to the
directions for learning activities, you can gradually introduce more complex
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procedures. Students should find their first engagements with your learning
activities satisfying. You want to leave them with the impression, “I learned
something; I can be successful!” The idea, of course, is to make sure
engagement is positively reinforced so that patterns of engaged behaviors
are formed. Later in a school session, it will be advantageous for you to
have students working on individual levels, with some engaged in one
learning activity while others are involved in a different learning activity. It is
advisable, however, to involve all students in the same learning activity in
the initial stages of a school session. Having all students working on the
same task allows you to keep directions simple, monitor the class as a whole,
and compare how different individuals approach common tasks. Moreover,
until you get to know your students, you hardly have a basis for deciding
how to individualize.

 Disassociating Self-Respect from Achievement

Students would be much less defensive, and thus more likely to
cooperate, if adults did not communicate that they risk their self-respect
whenever they undertake tasks or are expected to behave in a prescribed
manner. The destructive message from an authority figure that leads to
student defensiveness is, “I love and respect you when you are successful (or
behave properly).” In other words, “I do not love and respect you when you
are unsuccessful (or misbehave).”
You can mollify a student’s defensiveness by communicating that “I am
happy when you are successful—or behave properly—because I love and
respect you.” In other words, “I am unhappy when you are unsuccessful—or
misbehave—because I love and respect you.”
It is not easy for you or any other teacher to communicate that a
teacher’s job involves judging behaviors and achievement exhibited by
students rather than students themselves. Establishing cooperative
relationship is designed to help you develop a particular style for
communicating with students that, when consistently practiced, breaks
through defensive student attitudes and leads to the type of classroom
climate where students feel free to cooperate enthusiastically and engage in
learning activities. Through appropriate communication techniques, you can
(a) avoid the characterizations and labeling (such as “smart,” “dumb,”
“bright,” “slow,” “good,” “overachiever,” and “underachiever”) that lead
students to be defensive about engaging in learning activities, (b) gain
students’ trust so that they understand that they are not gambling with their
self-esteem by cooperating with you and engaging in the learning activities
you plan, and (c) avoid the resentment and power struggles that occur as a
consequence of students feeling embarrassed in the classroom.

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IV. ASSESSMENT

Answer the following question/s and discuss briefly.

Write one paragraph suggesting how the incident in Case 3.31

might influence, both positively and negatively, the businesslike atmosphere
of Ms. Schott’s class.
CASE 3.31

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Classroom Management
While conducting a questioning strategy session with her class, Ms.
Guatemala notices Ms. Jenny Tibayan, the school principal, beckoning her to
the doorway of the classroom. Ms. Guatemala calls a halt to the learning
activity, telling her class, “Excuse me, class, but I have some business with
Ms. Tibayan. We’ll finish up shortly. While I’m busy, please confine your talk
to whispers.” After 6 minutes in which Ms. Guatemala and Ms. Tibayan confer
at the doorway, Ms. Guatemala directs the class, “Okay, now let’s get back . .
. .”
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V. ASSIGNMENT
To serve as follow up of the lesson, you are required to do the
following:
Think of one of your teachers whom you consider to be with-it.
Think of another whom you don’t consider with-it. Write one or two
paragraphs describing differences in their classroom behaviors that led you
to think of one as demonstrating with-it-ness and the other not. Exchange
your description with that of a colleague who is also engaging in this activity.
Discuss specific behaviors that cause teachers to demonstrate with-it-ness.

VI. REFERENCES

SEVENTH EDITION Classroom Management Strategies, Gaining

And Maintaining Students’ Cooperation, JAMES S. CANGELOSI,
2014, 2008, 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements
Needed in

PRED 115: Classroom Management

STUDY GUIDE PREPARED BY:

DORIA, GRETHEL JOY H.

Bachelor of Elementary Education – Third Year - B

Submitted to:
MRS. ETHEL PANELO
Instructor

Pangasinan State University – Urdaneta

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