Behavior Management in the Classroom

Priyana Kumar, PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Resident, MedStar Union Memorial Hospital

Behavior management is an important aspect in managing a classroom and its students.  It is important to establish order in the classroom during the early stages of teaching in order to build a good relationship with the students and to get the students to listen to the material being taught¹.  Additionally, students’ behavior can have an effect on the behavior of other classmates and peers and can impact the manner in which the teaching content is delivered.

There are several techniques that can be used by the educator to ensure that proactive measures are being taken to measure behavior and to pre-emptively avoid conflict. Often, this strategy requires planning, but with strong planning, a foundation for positive classroom behavior can be built. Visualizing the possible challenges and reviewing strategies to deal with them can be helpful in terms of dealing with these problems when situations do arise³. In addition, it is extremely important to make expectations clear from the beginning to avoid any surprises to the learners and to ensure that the learners know what is expected of them. When setting expectations, they should be realistic, positive, and concise³. In addition to setting expectations, it can prove to be beneficial to also delineate the consequences of not meeting the expectations. Hand-in-hand with clearly delineating expectations, consistency is key so the students do not get confused and will most likely listen to what is being said.

Modeling positive behavior to students and encouraging all students alike can also prove to be a useful method in managing the different behaviors in classroom. It is always beneficial to show respect to all of the students by listening to their needs. Another method to manage students is to keep them busy and challenged, minimizing the time students have to behave poorly. Additionally, listening to the students suggestions in order to take the individual needs of the students into account can help maximize learning, provide the students with the opportunity to self-develop, and less likely set a tone for disruptive behavior².

Apart from common behavioral management techniques, it can be useful for the educator to utilize the reinforcement method¹. By being observant about student activities and what their least and most favorite activities are, the educator has the opportunity to learn what students would like to avoid as well as things they would earn as a result of positive behavior. The educators can then use this knowledge to their advantage in managing the behavior of the students when the students get disruptive. Some examples of reinforcement include primary reinforcers, secondary reinforcers, and social reinforcers². Primary reinforcers include items such as food and drinks. These often work best with younger students and with any age when there are high stress levels. For example, the educator can pass out candy to students that are actively participating in the classroom to motivate other students to do the same. Secondary reinforcers include tangible items such as erasers, notebooks, and such. Educators can also take advantage of these and motivate students to display good behavior and participate in classroom activities by handing out classroom items for students to keep. Social reinforcers are the highest level of reinforcement such as having less homework and having increased break time; like the primary and secondary reinforcers, these methods can be utilized similarly.

The behavioral management techniques described in the article are relevant to the course, as being able to manage a classroom is fundamental for every educator and at every level. A disorganized classroom without order can make it very difficult for both the instructor and the learners in terms of teaching and learning, respectively. For example, in a disorganized classroom, often the learners are lost and do not know what to do, causing them to go off task and cause disruptions. By minimizing these disruptions, the students can have the opportunity to be more engaged in learning, making the transmission of information more efficacious for both the educators and the learners.

Behavior management is applicable to pharmacy education as well, as it is applicable to all populations, including small groups, large groups, and when precepting students. For example, it is important for educators to apply behavioral management principles when leading topic discussions in a small group setting, in order to maximize learning from the socratic teaching method. Similarly, the same principles can be applied to deliver the teaching content to a larger audience when delivering a lecture. When the pharmacy professor takes the audience into account while both developing and executing the lesson plan, the educator is better able to deliver the pharmaceutical content and all of the learners are able to maximize their learning. Additionally, when precepting pharmacy students, behavior management can also be utilized to ensure that the students are making the most out of their educational experiences. Often, when precepting students, the students are given a lot of autonomy and without employing the behavioral principles including rewards and punishment when necessary, it can be easy for them to go off-track. Overall, behavior management is an important tool for all educators, and is relevant to pharmacy practice.

References:

1. DiGuilio, Robert. Positive Classroom Management, 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA, 2000: Corwin Press.
2. Edwards, Clifford H. Classroom Management and Discipline, 3rd Edition. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1997.
3. Teacher-Parent Collaboration Printables, Articles, & Resources - TeacherVision. Printables, Articles, & Resources - TeacherVision. https://www.teachervision.com/teaching-strategies/teacher-parent-collaboration. Accessed April 1, 2017.