JOURNAL ARTICLE CRITIQUE OF CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT STUDIES

Submitted to Dr. Vu Hoa Ngan

By Nguyen Vu Thanh Phuong

Student ID: 1891401110042

Ho Chi Minh city Open University

Submitted on June 3, 2018

Journal Article Critique of Classroom Management Studies

Classroom management has been one of the critical skills, along side with methodology and

academic competence, which contributes to the development of teachers in general. Studies

concerning this pedagogical aspect have been conducted throughout the advancement of

educational history, with regards to its applicability and appropriateness in contemporary

environments. This paper is intended to give an insight into three articles concerning the

relationship of classroom management and students’ achievement, the levels of their distorted

behaviours as well as an analogy of the educational managerial skills.

In “Punish Them or Engage Them? Teachers’ Views of Unproductive Student Behaviours in the

Classroom” by Sullivan, A., Johnson, B., Owens, L. and Conway, R. published on Australian

Journal of Teacher Education in 2014, a research was undertaken to evaluate the tendency of

violence-driven actions in the classroom. Contrary to common belief of the necessary use of

strict policies against spoilt students, the result of the questionnaire survey among teachers of

some South Australian schools conclusively implied the infrequent appearance of such

behaviours, whereas other low-level disruptive attitudes were closer to the norm. Surprisingly,

according to the study, unproductive students with less aggressive nature are reported to be more

challenging for teachers to engage in the lesson, and thus, they often seek for steps-system

strategies in which the last resort tends to be a permanent expel. However, the study showed an

uneven distribution of female-male teachers (93 percent were female respondents) and mostly

full-timers, hence the limitation of the final implication, even though the researchers successfully

attracted a fair number of educators (1750) from various sectors of the country. Following the

statistics, the authors shed a light onto this issue by encouraging some methods that are more

likely to engage students rather than the conventional misdirected measures. This suggestion

somewhat adheres to more modernized patterns of education, as suggested by Bryson et al.

Journal Article Critique of Classroom Management Studies

“…student engagement lies on a continuum from disengaged to engaged, and also exists at a

number of levels”. (2007) and other researchers. Nevertheless, it is quite skeptical to generally

assume that “broad concerns about negative and deteriorating student behaviour are largely

unfounded”, as sufficient evidence on an international scale was yet to be illustrated in this

study.

In a response to a long-awaited solution for the regarded problem, Mundschenk, N., Miner, C.

and Nastally, B. proposed an analogical perspective in their article “Effective Classroom

Management” on Intervention in School and Clinic in 2011. The authors suggested an interesting

correlation between the role of the teachers and air traffic controllers, thereby inferred a means of

classroom management with which instructions are made for the airport-like classroom

atmosphere. One noticeable innovation in this study is the introduction of “the flight zone”. In

replacement of fruitless commands and unnecessary policies, students are expected to fly inside

their classroom, but orderly and restrictedly in some permitted area only. The analogy also

considers attracting students by using visual aids, just like how prompts and signals are utilized

at airports for less forced instructions. In a nutshell, the metaphorical comparison between the

two seemingly unrelated figures in fact amusingly conveys the idea of teachers being more of a

guide than the authority, which may promote professional development and initiate fun in the

classroom.

It is believed that discipline is a positive force, and that classroom management strategies can

foster better comprehension of the lesson. Aliakbari, M. and Bozorgmanesh, B. in their 2015

publication “Assertive classroom management strategies and students’s performance: The case

of EFL classroom”, however, challenges the perception through a conductive study in Iran. The

drawn conclusion refutes the connection between classroom policies and students’ achievement,
Journal Article Critique of Classroom Management Studies

implying a friendlier approach by forming relationships strategies and other factors. It is

reasonable yet provocative to see the authors mentioning some other affective elements that can

alter the students’ academic achievement in a study mainly focusing on classroom management,

and thus, welcoming further research on the stated factors. Meanwhile, the Iranian questionnaire

shares the same problem with the one taken in South Australia in 2014, that is the limited context

of the respondents. Due to the restricted surveyed areas, a more formalized application cannot by

formed and some larger scale ones should be provided to justify the findings. Another potential

issue that might interfere in the result is the varied difficulty of the tests used in the research.

Variation allows broader outlooks, yet it can possess significant impacts.

The three articles dissect different aspects of classroom management and its implication. Despite

some drawbacks, mostly related to the limitation of the scale, the results open up challenging

approaches to this educational matter. As suggested at the end of the study by Aliakbari et al.,

contributing factors to classroom management also need to be examined in addition, which

possibly enhances the use of such skills on a global scale.

Journal Article Critique of Classroom Management Studies

REFERENCES

Aliakbari, M. and Bozorgmanesh, B. (2015). Assertive classroom management strategies and

students’s performance: The case of EFL classroom. Cogent Education, 2(1).

Bryson, C. and Hand, L. (2007). The role of engagement in inspiring teaching and

learning. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 44(4), pp.349-362.

Mundschenk, N., Miner, C. and Nastally, B. (2011). Effective Classroom

Management. Intervention in School and Clinic, 47(2), pp.98-103.

Sullivan, A., Johnson, B., Owens, L. and Conway, R. (2014). Punish Them or Engage Them?

Teachers’ Views of Unproductive Student Behaviours in the Classroom. Australian Journal

of Teacher Education, 39(6).