Author Archives: Harjot Johal

Teacher burnout is something that I have been warned about in the past form fellow teachers and professors. I have always kept in mind that is important to take care of myself throughout my journey as a teacher and that with the right coping strategies I can avoid teacher burnout. There can be many causes for teacher burnout but one that has come to my attention recently is the relationship between student misbehaviour and teacher burnout.

Student misbehaviour has been known to be a source of stress for teachers for some time, and is associated with high levels of teacher reported burnout (Hasting & Bham, 2003). This is not hard to believe; as teachers we deal with many different issues in the classroom daily  and dealing with a difficult student takes a lot of energy and time. Overtime this can have a negative affect on our physical and emotional health (Hasting & Bham, 2003).  In a study done by Hastings & Bham (2003), it was revealed that teacher self efficacy in their ability to manage the classroom and student behaviour was an important factor in avoiding reported teacher burnout. Also, retaliating with emotion-focused strategies when dealing with difficult students showed an increase risk in emotional exhaustion (Hastings & Bham, 2003).

Dealing difficult students is not something we can do on our own. I believe it is really important to seek help in the beginning of the year when we notice that there are difficult students in the classroom. Having a positive and frequent relationship with school administrators and school counsellors can help with the emotional strains of the work.

Ever since I had my music class last semester I have been interested in looking into research that supports music therapy in the classroom. Music is a wonderful tool for many reasons in the classroom, it builds on creativity, gets kids moving and is great for classroom management. I have been particularly interested in the effects on music on those students with behavioural issues, can music help them manage themselves?

A study that looked at the effects of providing background music in the classroom on the behaviour and performance of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties revealed positive findings. Hallam & Price (1998) found that there was a significant improvement in behaviour and mathematics performance for all children who were exposed to the background music during their daily activities. The effects of the music were particularly powerful for those students whose problems were related to constant stimulus-seeking and over-activity (Hallman & Price, 1998). The music played in these classrooms was classical music. These finding suggest that the classical music can have a calming effect on children who may have a hard time focusing during work periods in the classroom. This study also revealed improvements in co-operation and reduction in aggression during the lessons (Hallam & Price, 1998).

When thinking of a school enviornment we generally think of a safe space that children learn and grow as individuals. Threats around the school community seem to be low unless the community is known for violence or is unsafe. What all schools may share in common, however, is threats from other students. It may be that a child does not want to come to school because he or she feels threatened by another peer. Not all of this information is shared regularly with parents and teachers or other adults so it can be an internal struggle that a child is dealing with.

This topic was bought forth to me this week during an important staff meeting at my practicum school. A grade 5 student who has a history of behavioural outbursts and issues was suspended after making derogatory, sexual threats to a female student. The staff at my school was bought together to discuss how to move forward with the inceident. We had our school counsellor present and also a behavioral specialist from the district. The main focus of the meeting was to inform the staff of the reprucssions  of the student’s actions and to get everyone’s feedback to ensure a safer environment for students and staff. Some teachers strongly felt threatened and unsafe by this student’s previous behaviours and were really concerned about the safety of the other children. Their concern was around the school community as a whole.

The student had gone under some testing with the district but because of confidentiality I did not learn the diagnosis or the results of the testing. The district specialist and our district counsellor worked hard behind the scene in dealing with the student and his family. Some community members, especially the parents of students, often do not know how much work is done by the principal, counsellor and other district members to help the troubled student and the school. It is not unfamiliar to hear parents talking about how “nothing is being done” because they expect immediate answers for the student’s actions. I have learned through this staff meeting that it takes a long time to deal with a situation like this. It takes a lot of work to come to an agreement for what is best for the student, family and teachers.

There was conversation around what was said by the student and if teachers should debrief with the students who were around the situation when it happened, so that there is some teaching about what the meaning of the words is. I think it depends on the classroom environment, it does not have to revolve on what had been said but it can be around the whole issue itself. Often situations like these may be disturbing to other students who witness them and I definitely think that their feelings and thoughts around it should be addressed.

I learned a lot from this open discussion meeting. The staff really cared about the troubled student and wanted to help him but they were also looking out for the rest of the school community to ensure that his behaviours do not negatively affect anyone else. I really thought hard about what the student himself was going through at a time like this. How was he feeling about the situation? Is he able to return to school without being treated unfairly by the students and staff?

This week in my Education, Knowledge and Curriculum course (EDST 403) some of my classmates and I are doing research on violence surrounding students in the classroom. We will be presenting our findings to our peers next week and so far we have found some interesting research. I chose to take part in this topic because it relates closely to my inquiry around behavioural management in the classroom.

Staring on this project, my group and I quickly realized that violence in the classroom was a pretty broad topic. We found lots of information that we want to share with our peers but due to time constraints we will be focusing our attention on violence between students, violence between student and teacher and what the new curriculum is telling us that students need to know about violence. We will give strategies for dealing with violent students and how to prevent violent behaviours. Being part of the SEL cohort we strongly believe that imbedding practices such as Second Step will help students gain a better understanding of how to deal in situations where they may feel obligated to be violent with each other or with an adult.

So far we have found some Canadian research that suggests that violence in schools is on the rise but we are looking further into these studies to getting a better understanding of what is affecting this. My group and I had an interesting conversation surrounding violent outbreaks in the classroom. How do we as teachers respond to a student who is putting him or herself in danger along with the rest of the class? We discussed how it was important to take the rest of the class outside of the classroom so it is safe but then that leaves roughly 25-30 students unattended (if there is not EA in the class) or a violent child unattended in the classroom. Through our research we will also be exploring the different polices among school districts and will be looking into what we as teachers can do if a situation like this arises. I am looking forward to our findings as it will strengthen my findings around my Inquiry question.

It is hard to narrow done to a few sentences what kind of teacher I hope to be. However, there are some parts of my career that I feel more strongly about and hope to accomplish over the years to come. 

Through my social and emotional approach to teaching I hope to support ALL of my students in any way possible. Mental well-being is not always talked about in classrooms and talking openly about our emotions with my students will only do them good in the future. As a teacher I will be a role model to every student I meet so it is my goal to epitomize the good qualities that I want to see in them. Lastly, making learning memorable is something I strive for because knowing that your students remember something they learned from you is beyond satisfying.