[...]... offer the valuable perception that there are always two aspects to any classroom agenda Well-planned routines establish a balance between the work agenda and the social agenda ensuring that teaching takes place with a clear purpose in a congenial atmosphere Maintaining that balance also requires careful consideration of methods and materials II THE METHODS In some schools the conditions and consequences... consistent and predictable pattern of teacher response to pupil behaviour Glynn (1992) makes the point that this is not an easy task as teachers differ widely in their interpretation of what is acceptable 18 Effective classroom management behaviour: what may be seen as merely inappropriate behaviour to one teacher may be an intolerable affront to the dignity of another But as Glynn argues, achieving a staff... by subject departments and by individual teachers is needed to ensure that it is appropriate Methods and materials 8 Effective classroom management should also be closely examined to see that learning experiences are suitable and study tasks are attainable for pupils with a range and diversity of aptitudes and abilities Raban and Postlethwaite (1988) offer some useful advice on how this can be done by... a way that the teacher has a good vantage point for supervision, easy access to move quickly and easily to any pupil and adequate storage for materials and equipment Cangelosi then provides an illustrated tale of how one teacher attains this ideal, changing the furniture and design of a traditional high school ‘obstacle course’ of a classroom, through a series of adaptations involving volunteer labour,... that materials are available, displays arranged, and necessary instructions or examples are written on the board This will all help to provide the mental composure essential to relaxed assurance In larger schools, this tactic may not be easy, though professional commitment appears to be a more significant factor than distance between teaching areas in ensuring a prompt start to lessons (Rutter et al.,... progress, offering advice and guidance keeps attention on the task in hand It is a natural contact between teacher and pupil which provides immediate feedback and means that if attention has wandered the teacher’s response can be to offer help with an assumed difficulty rather than reprimand about misbehaviour When working at one pupil’s desk or with a group around a table, a brief glance around the rest... involves a realisation of an ability to cope and a capacity for achievement in a subject It is promoted by the teacher’s skill in ensuring that even less able pupils have sufficient experience of success to generate self-motivation By examining their classroom organisation teachers can identify ways of avoiding pupil misbehaviour which develops as a means of warding off inadequacy and identify ways of... organisation where teachers adopt an agreed approach can help pupils cope with the complexities of a secondary school timetable An example of a routine similar to that applied by Weber and his colleagues would be an agreement that all lessons should: • • • • • • Start with seatwork, recapping material previously taught Introduce new learning by talk or demonstration Make sure that new ideas are understood... demonstrated that seating children in rows rather than around tables increases on-task behaviour It should be noted that Wheldall and Merrett emphasise the point that their research should not be taken as advocating this arrangement for all work, but that teachers should vary seating arrangements to suit the task in hand’ Where group work is undertaken this can be used for assigning different tasks to groups... showed that they were about to experience a period of rapid intellectual growth Although in fact chosen at random, the identified pupils’ performance on tests of general ability and reading achievement at the end of the year was measurably better than the performance of their unselected but equally able classmates This demonstration has not proved easy to replicate Perhaps wide and possibly exaggerated . Behavioural Difficulties and the National Council for Special Education, and has con- tributed to books and journals on special educational needs. Effective classroom management Effective classroom management A teacher’s. the vital practical advantage of being able to check that the room is tidy, that materials are available, displays arranged, and necessary instructions or examples are written on the board. This will. publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record