Inquiry Adventures

Finding Balance (Annotated Bibliography)

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Balli, J. S. (2009). Classroom Management. In Making a difference in the classroom: strategies that connect with students (65- 77). Estover Road, Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield Education.

In this chapter to her book, Sandra J. Balli uses concrete suggestions, academic research, comments from students looking back on their school years, and many personal anecdotes to assert the need for classroom teachers to develop a management style that is both based on connections between teachers and students on the one hand and incorporates strong structure, whole-class supervision or ‘with-it-ness,’ and consistency on the other. Balli also proclaims the need for teachers to leave room for an attitude of understanding and an appreciation for nuance in classroom situations, as students may have hidden rationales behind their behaviour. As a whole, Balli believes that the ultimate aim is to create a positive and supportive classroom environment, but that rules that are clearly explained and followed through are necessary to create this atmosphere. This chapter is useful for my inquiry because it pairs both more traditional management styles with relationship-based ones, in a way that will enable me to see the essential ingredients for creating a well-run classroom. Its simple and clear language and focus on concrete experiences and advice will also assist me in finding ways to translate ideas within it to my own practicum context, in order to test their effectiveness for myself. The stories she relates are also eye-opening and so, although they are specific and cannot be fully generalized, they allow me to learn from the mistakes and triumphs of a master teacher. However, there are some strategies in the chapter that seem to come out of a context that does not fully fit with the inquiry-based approaches of the new BC curriculum and so require modification in order to be able to be implemented in my practice. For example, Balli suggests creating guidelines for the classroom before the first day, but I believe that it would be better to create these guidelines together with the students during the first week of school. Overall, I believe that the guidelines Balli discusses are important, but that they may be shifted to allow for more student agency, particularly in the intermediate years, and I would like to find more sources discussing this.

Cautions For Social and Emotional Learning (Annotated Bibliography)

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Gillies, V. (2011). Social and emotional pedagogies: critiquing the new orthodoxy of emotion in classroom behaviour management. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 32.2, 185- 202. doi: http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1080/01425692.2011.547305

In this article, Val Gillies relates the findings from his ethnographic research examining the usefulness of a program called Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning for 12 to 15 year olds enrolled in Behaviour Support Units at low socio-economic status schools in Britain. Gillies found that the program promoted a form of emotional literacy that did not fit with the students’ coping strategies and everyday experiences in both their school and community contexts. Gillies asserted that students who could not easily adopt the form of emotionality promoted in the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning program, and other programs similar to it, would run the risk of being marginalized and even marked as deviant for showcasing their own forms of expression. The research looked at a specific population of highly at-risk secondary students in a different country using a specific program that is not used here, and so its direct generalizability to my own context may be limited. It also looked at a small sample size of students to make its claims and so Gillies’ concerns may not transfer to other students in other schools. However, it is useful for my inquiry because it shows that the trend towards social and emotional learning strategies may not serve all students, especially those who may already be disadvantaged or underserved. I should be aware of this when crafting a management style around a social and emotional learning and relationship-based philosophy. The Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning program as described in the article also has similarities to what I have seen of the Mind-Up program used in my practicum school, and so these links may be worth further exploration. Although I still believe in the social and emotional learning approach and intend to look for further research determining its efficacy, this article will help me remember to truly get to know my students and tailor my management strategy to them and their needs, rather than attempting to fit them into a one-size-fits-all style.

Inspiration from Rita Pierson (Annotated Bibliography)

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Pierson, R. (2013 May). Every kid needs a champion. Ted Talks Education. Retrieved from             https://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion#t-446630

In this Ted Talk, Rita Pierson, a grandchild and child of teachers and veteran teacher herself, draws on her extensive educational experience to discuss the power of building positive relationships with students and taking an empowerment approach to teaching. Contradicting a teacher she once met who insisted that she did not need to like the students in order to teach them, Pierson uses personal stories about her own classroom and the teaching practices of her mother to demonstrate the necessity of teachers’ connections with, and belief in, students in order to truly motivate learning. Although personal in nature, this talk offers many takeaways that can be implemented into different classrooms, such as the idea of framing assessment and management practices in positive terms that leave room for growth, implementing mantras of empowerment that can increase each student’s sense of self-worth, going above and beyond in providing for students’ needs, apologizing to the students for mistakes made, and finding a way to love even the most difficult pupils. Although not all of the video explicitly relates to management, it is useful for me because it provides a real-world example of a master educator who has been able to use relationship-based strategies and social and emotional approaches to create successful classrooms. Therefore, I can use her strategies as a launching point to think about how I might develop my own relationship and empowerment based approaches to classroom environment creation. Its tone and message are also inspiring for me as I navigate the challenges of refining my own teaching and management style in the short year of the education program. However, since this video is relatively short, it does not provide enough concrete examples of how Pierson implements her philosophies into her teaching for me to be able to piece together a full picture of a day in her classroom. It also does not reach beyond Pierson herself and her family, so suggestions may require modification before being implemented into different contexts.

Second Inquiry Reflection

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Since my peer discussion on my inquiry topic on February 3rd, I have not had the chance to locate or read more academic research. However, there have been stories shared in the media that have influenced my thinking about the power of positive, social and emotional, and relationship-based classroom management. Although more subjective and more influenced by trends than academic research, I think that these media sources have great power to inspire me as I navigate the challenges of developing my classroom management style, to provide me with examples of other teachers who are putting their ideas into practice in a classroom instead of leaving them solely within the realm of theory, and to show me which practices members of the public connect to as ultimately our jobs as teachers are to form relationships with both parents or guardians and students. One example of a teacher in the media who inspired me in this way is Barry White Junior, a fifth grade teacher in the United States who greets each one of his students at the classroom door in the morning with a personalized handshake routine (Jerry Hamilton, 2017). This video has been shared widely among my cohort and the UBC education program as a whole. Not only did I find it truly impressive that Mr. White was able to connect to his students to such a strong extent that he could remember a complicated handshake for each of them, it struck me that implementing such a fun routine would help students start the day off on a positive note. It could show them that their teacher truly cares about who they are as an individual and that they are truly motivated to help them succeed. This shows me that classroom management must be truly foundational as a work in progress, instead of being instituted only when students are not following behavioural guidelines. Although, as pointed out in the last peer group discussion, strategies must be developed uniquely for each class situation and cannot simply be transferred from the media to my classroom or even from one of my classrooms to a different classroom the following year, this example leads me to think about how I may implement a positive and consistent daily routine with my students during the long practicum, and how this might influence classroom management. Another example of a teacher who inspired me in the media recently was Mr. Bonner, a second grade teacher in North Carolina who helps teach his students content material in new and exciting ways, such as through a rap song (TheEllenShow, 2017). Although not as directly related to classroom management, I think that this example demonstrates how personalizing content to fit with the interests and needs of students can help feel them feel motivated and inspired to succeed, and can thus increase their engagement in lessons and lead to better management. Both these examples demonstrate that forming relationships with students is the first step to crafting any classroom community. Moving forward, I hope to find more examples of such dedicated and creative teachers to take points of inspiration from, and then to place these examples in conjunction with educational theory so I may develop my own unique positive management style.

 

References

TheEllenShow. (2017, Jan. 12). Ellen Surprises Incredible Teacher Mr. Bonner. [Video File].

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN6gKAfEwZ8

Jerry Hamilton. (2017, Feb. 2). Teacher Connects with Each of his Students by Creating

            Personalized Handshakes. [Video File]. Retrieved from       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaTOxVaYkPU

 

First Inquiry Reflection

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I found that having a group conference with my classmates after finishing the annotated bibliography for my inquiry project was a useful exercise. Based on both my experiences in the classroom so far and on the research I studied in order to write my assignment, I shifted my topic from focusing on the intersections between active learning and relationship-based teaching, to examining how social and emotional learning and relationship-based strategies could help improve classroom management. I made this change mainly because I wished to better fit my inquiry with what I see as my personal areas of strength and personal opportunities for growth. In addition, my successful experience of implementing a box for my practicum classroom which allows students to write down and privately submit any answers they have to the statement “I wish my teacher knew…” makes me wonder how such strategies can not only help students air their concerns and feel more supported and connected to their teachers, but can also help improve the behaviour of the classroom as a whole. This initiative was based on the original “I wish my teacher knew…” project spearheaded by Kyle Schwartz (2016, p. 3), and, though it does not appear to be Schwartz’s main focus on the surface, I think that such innovative educators have much advice to give on how to create a well-run classroom without sacrificing any of the emotional support provided to students. Although this transition in my topic occurred before I participated in the group meeting, the discussion that took place among my peers and with my faculty advisor helped solidify the strength of my new inquiry question. Specifically, as my fellow group members discussed their own inquiry processes, I began to connect all of the topics they raised to the theme of positive classroom management. For example, forging strong bonds with the significant figures in a student’s home life can help to understand this student better and thus select a management style that may be most useful for them, and having a strong management style can help make these interactions more positive and timely. To back up these ideas, in his book The Active Teacher, Ron Nash points to the importance of proactively creating positive contact with parents and guardians in order to foster similarly positive classroom relationships and management (2009, p.  19-21). In addition to allowing me to make these connections, the group discussion also led to interesting comparisons between my colleagues’ practicum experiences thus far and my own, and to discussing and thinking about the benefits and drawbacks of building new classroom routines before our long practicums, as I have done with such things as the box and the drama lessons I teach every Thursday morning. Although at first I began to doubt the decisions I had made to jump in so quickly, my faculty advisor reminded us that our job as teacher candidates is not to become mirrors of our school advisors but rather to develop our own educational styles. This showed me that, by taking the leap to infuse my own style into the practicum classroom early on, I had created the ideal opportunity for me to learn to craft my own unique management style, even if this process would come with a few bumps in the road. Overall, this group discussion left me with many points and bits of new knowledge to reflect on and consider.

References

Nash, R. (2009). The Active Teacher: Practical Strategies for Maximizing Teacher Effectiveness.

            Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Schwartz, K. (2016). I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything for

            Our Kids. Boston, MA: Da Capo Lifelong Books.

 

First Bibliography Exploration

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Durlak, A. J., Dymnicki, B. A., Taylor, D. R., Weissberg, P. R., & Schellinger, B. K. (2011). The impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: a meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development, 82(1), 405-432. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrarywiley.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-8624

In this paper, the researchers undertook a meta-analysis of school-based programs teaching social and emotional learning to students in order to assess the effectiveness of these initiatives on a range of behavioural, academic and emotional outcomes. Ultimately, they found that, on average across all of the studies included in the analysis, social and emotional learning programs improved students’ social-emotional competencies, attitudes towards themselves and their surrounding school community, tendencies towards pro-social behaviour, avoidance of conduct issues, and achievement in measured academic standards, and that the most impactful programs were led by regular classroom teachers. In addition to sharing the research methodology and discussing the results in depth, the paper also outlines the broader ideas behind social and emotional learning programs. This paper is useful for my inquiry because it gives background information that I need to discuss social and emotional behavioural management strategies, and provides rigorous research to show that social and emotional learning programs are beneficial for students, regardless of the particular demographics of a school. Although the paper does not specifically address the theme of classroom management that I am structuring my inquiry around, it shows that social and emotional learning can lead to student outcomes that are useful for maintaining a focused, orderly, and supportive classroom community, which are all the intended outcomes of management strategies as well. Therefore, it shows that social and emotional learning is a fruitful field to explore in terms of classroom management. However, all of the studies the paper draws on come from the United States, and thus may not be fully transferable to the Canadian context. The paper also does not provide information about how a teacher may go about implementing these social and emotional learning strategies in their classroom, or what specific forms of activities or programs are most useful.

 

Norris, A. J. (2003). Looking at classroom management through a social and emotional learning lens. Theory Into Practice, 42(4), 313- 318. Retrieved from http://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/doi/abs/10.1207/s15430421tip4204_8

In this paper, Norris traces the broad ideas behind social and emotional learning before showing how it can aid positive management and create strong relationships in the classroom. She then explains how she and her fellow staff members used these ideas to promote a healthy environment in her own intermediate school. Throughout her discussion, Norris strives to demonstrate that social and emotional learning provides a strong direction for a teacher hoping to help foster emotional development and build a welcoming and well-managed community for all of their students. Because this paper explicitly addresses the issue of classroom management through the lens of positive pro-social strategies instead of disciplinary measures, it is highly relevant for my inquiry project. Through incorporating research that asserts the classroom environment is integral to maintaining proper organization, this paper can help me to show that tying social and emotional and relationship-based strategies to classroom management is a useful approach. This paper also outlines specific strategies and activities that can form a strong part of the social and emotional learning strategy and so will help me tie the research to real-world teaching practice. Finally, Norris provides an extensive checklist of the key skills that can be developed through social and emotional learning, and so will help me to both gain a greater understanding of the ideas behind social and emotional learning and to apply these ideas to strategies I locate in other sources. On the other hand, although it points to research demonstrating the efficacy of social and emotional learning strategies, it does not engage with these sources in depth, and so I will need to locate further research to back up these claims. The paper is also written from an American context, and therefore, some of the ideas, especially as pertains ties to the curriculum, may not fully transfer over to a Canadian situation.

 

Nash, R. (2009). The Active Teacher: Practical Strategies for Maximizing Teacher Effectiveness.   Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

In this book, Ron Nash, an education professional, demonstrates how teachers can maximize their effectiveness without expending more effort or time by fostering active student engagement and setting clear expectations from the beginning of a school year, in the areas of classroom climate, learning, feedback, and assessment. Throughout the book, case studies, thorough analysis backed up by experience and research, and specific suggestions are provided to illustrate the concepts. For the purposes of my inquiry, Chapters 1, 2 and 3, which outline the importance of establishing clear classroom procedures, developing strong relationships with students, parents and staff, and developing one’s own personal emotional capabilities, are most relevant. Tying these three chapters together, I will be able to use them to demonstrate that relationship-based teaching and positive pro-active strategies can create the foundation for strong management practices. Moving beyond looking at relationships between students and teachers in isolation or overlooking the need for teachers to center their own well-being, this book demonstrates how a switch to relationship-based classroom management can be established while maintaining a reasonable workload and streamlining challenges, and thus make this framework more accessible to the day-to-day teaching profession.  These chapters, and the book as a whole, also provide practical and detailed strategies that can be readily applied to real-world situations written in easy-to-understand language, and so will be useful to provide an alternative prospective to more technical sources I will be using in my inquiry. In contrast, the research used in the book is sometimes decontextualized, and so some of the strategies do not appear to be tested by others. Additionally, while the ideas discussed appear simple and useful, some of the challenges faced in modern classrooms, such as disconnection of busy parents from the classroom community, are not accounted for and therefore some of the strategies may need to be adapted for diverse classrooms.

 

Marzano, J. R., Marzano, S. J., & Pickering, J. D. (2003). Classroom Management that Works: Research-Based Strategies for Every Teacher. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

In this book, the authors assert that the development of classroom management skills is the foundation of effective teaching. Using evidence from the meta-analysis that they conducted, Marzano, Marzano and Pickering found that the most essential aspects of classroom management are establishing clear rules and procedures, implementing disciplinary interventions, creating positive teacher-student relationships, and fostering a healthy mental state, and so they explore how these aspects can be implemented in the classroom throughout the chapters, using findings from their meta-analysis, research conducted by other scholars, case studies and outlines for specific action steps to take. For the purposes of my inquiry, Chapter 4, which explores the dimension of teacher-student relationships, Chapter 5, which discusses the teacher’s own mental set, and Chapter 6, which looks at how students can get involved in the management process, are most useful. I will be able to use the statistical evidence provided in this book to demonstrate that relationship-based teaching, bringing positivity to the classroom environment and fostering emotional competence in students are necessary features for developing a strong management strategy. In addition, the research included to back up all of the suggestions for teaching practice can be useful in not only establishing the validity of the points taken from this book, but also in extending an evidence-based approach to suggestions found in more informal resources. Finally, the relationship chapter specifically addresses the needs of students with behavioural and academic challenges and so can be applied to classrooms with diverse needs, such as my practicum class. However, because this book is written from a non-Canadian context and was published fourteen years ago, some of the language and suggestions included seem outdated and not in line with inquiry-based approaches, such as suggesting that including students’ in the management process is an onerous undertaking, and thus may require modification or contextualization if used in my inquiry.

 

Schwartz, K. (2016). I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything for Our Kids. Boston, MA: Da Capo Lifelong Books.

In this book, third grade teacher Kyle Schwartz, uses her famous ‘I Wish My Teacher Knew…’ exercise as a jumping off point to explore the issues faced by students in contemporary America and how a caring teacher can help to navigate students through these challenges. Throughout, Schwartz uses the teaching experiences of herself and others to show that these issues, such as mobility, grief, poverty, and trauma, while large and systemic, can be impacted through the creation of a supportive classroom community and an unwavering belief and commitment to students. Although this book does not explicitly pertain to my inquiry question around classroom management, because many of the children who seem most difficult to control in a school environment are often facing large challenges outside of the classroom, it can help me find ways to use relationship-based strategies with these most vulnerable students, as well as the class as a whole, to prevent management issues before they arise. Each issue discussed in the book is contextualized on a societal level which helps demonstrate how fostering strong relationships instead of resorting first to more punitive measures can impact students beyond the boundaries of the school. The language used is also easy to connect to, and the suggestions included are clear and thoroughly explained, which makes the connections between the book and real-world settings easier to navigate. However, the book is not research based, and so other sources that are more scholarly in tone will have to be used to back up the assertions raised. The discussion also centers on an American context, and so the societal issues, while relevant for Canada, cannot simply be translated to this new context and not all of the discussions will apply. For example, the section on military families is less pertinent in Vancouver than in America.