Gazi Md. Abdur Rashid :
Classroom management is extremely important for students to learn in an environment free of disruption. Good classroom management is a vital component that ensures students’ ability to reach full academic potentials as well as learning outcomes. When a teacher can effectively control the direction and behavior of a classroom, students are likely to achieve the best academic outcome.
Effective classroom management can often make a difference between a classroom that focuses on students’ attention and on the other, a classroom in which students struggle to achieve their educational objectives. Teachers face a variety of choices about classroom management. While some teachers take a direct approach to managing and directing their classrooms, others focus on building a friendly, collaborative relationship with their students.
By establishing a clear and consistent standard of behaviour, teachers can ensure that their classes are organised and productive, and their students do not have the opportunity to engage in fights or conflict with another student. Additionally, by punishing students who are disrespectful to others, teachers hardly reduce verbal conflicts that gradually escalate and turn into physical harm. Through behaviour management, teachers can create an atmosphere of mutual respect in which all classroom participants feel safe to share their options without risk of censure. Without classroom management, students likely feel that they are not free to speak or participate with their peers who make them feel unwelcome or unworthy.
Classroom setup is an important component in a learning environment because it is an essential piece of classroom management to support both teaching and learning. The physical atmosphere of the classroom can help prevent behaviour issues as well as promote and improve learning.
Importance of classroom management:
1. Students learn to respect boundaries. For example, there are “Teacher only” areas as well as the boundaries of space a student has around his/her personal desk.
2. The organisation of classroom materials allows students to retrieve them quickly, which helps to decrease unwanted behaviour.
3. Proper room arrangement provides prediction, which is essential for students, because students thrive when they are in a comfortable learning environment.
4. Students can learn behaviours which are acceptable and expected in each specific location in a classroom. For example, when in library, students need to be quiet, but while in the play ground, students are allowed to talk.
5. Students can learn to anticipate activities which usually occur in some specific locations of the classroom. This helps students be mindful of what they need to behave for each specific area they are in.
6. It helps create a student centered productive teaching learning environment.
7. It provides students with structure and achievable goals with effective feedback by the teachers.
8. It helps to form responsible individuals and understand learning concept delivering by teachers.
9. It allows various activities to occur during the day with a minimum time and mistakes. Students can know what is expected from them.
10. It increases task time and reduces classroom disruptions and provides an effective environment with application of participatory method.
Through effective classroom management, teachers can build healthy and mutually respectful relationships with their students, and allow students to build positive relationships with their peers. Effective classroom management ensures that students interact appropriately, create and strengthen relationship which is obviously important for their performance as well as help achieving their learning outcomes. When we think about a dream school it comes first classroom management which is significantly relates to students effective learning attitudes.
(Gazi Md. Abdur Rashid, Research Officer, District Education Office, Secondary and Higher Education, Munshiganj, Bangladesh)
