I don’t remember much from my classroom management class, but I do remember this statement, “One of the best classroom management tools you have is a good curriculum.” I came back to this statement many times over my years of teaching and it served me well. A good lesson or activity always seemed to make management easier. It wasn’t perfect, nothing is, but I had fewer problems when the students were more engaged with what we were doing in class. It didn’t have to be a special, spectacular lesson or activity. It just needed to be relevant or interesting enough to capture their attention and provide ways for students at all levels to be successful with it.
This statement is a perfect illustration of the idea that management is about more than just enforcing rules. To be clear, rules are important. They provide a solid set of expectations. Effective rules, when partnered with fair and judicious consequences, can play an important role in maintaining student behavior norms. However, as the “good curriculum” example shows, it’s not just about the rules.
The Core Teaching Framework calls the practice of management “Managing in the Moment”. While the title seems to focus on what to do in a crisis situation, it’s as much about the work the teacher has done to prepare the environment and develop relationships as it is a guide to handling disruptions in the classroom. Within the broader expectations and values of the school, the teacher creates a classroom environment that meets the needs of: the grade-level of the students, the academic subject, and the individual strengths and authentic personality of the teacher.
Many classroom management programs try to de-emphasize the importance of the actual teacher in implementing the system. This is understandable because a system should work for any teacher and rely on objective, dispassionate criteria. Dispassion can be important, especially when facing disruption, but teachers who develop authentic, appropriate relationships with their students will create a stability that doesn’t just rely on rules. Students who experience the teacher as someone who sees them, believes in their capacity to learn, and remains steady even when they do not will want to maintain that relationship.
By the same token, students who have confidence that a classroom is predictable and structured will want to be part of that environment. The stability is not just about the teacher’s authority. It is the result of the intentional structure and relationship-building the teacher has done. This is the living process of teaching and learning at its most fundamental. The stability of a classroom isn’t built once and maintained mechanically. It grows through daily interactions, is tested by disruption, and is restored through the work of relationship. The classroom is alive because the people in it are.
This stability of structure and relationship is powerful, but disruptions can still happen. A student can still melt down or challenge the teacher. Two or more students can still get into an argument. These are the “moments” in “Managing in the Moment”. A teacher who has created a stable classroom environment can more effectively deal with such a disruption. The rest of the class wants the disruption to end and to return to work, allowing the teacher to focus on helping the student or students involved in the disruption to return to work.
Teachers can feel very vulnerable when facing these situations. It can be tempting to fall back on authority at these times, but this often leads to power struggles, and the teacher has already been pulled off balance. All teachers have gone through this. Teachers who are grounded in the classroom environment they have created and are further strengthened by a sense of their professional identity or center developed from their values, experiences, and personal mission can remain calm, manage the disruption, and return the classroom to its normal functioning. This is why the icon for Managing in the Moment is the anchor. The teacher is holding the classroom together.
It is when the classroom is back to work that the issue of rules, consequences, and accountability should be considered. Usually it is best to consult with the administrator charged with discipline or behavior if a disruption has affected a class. That administrator can help with the process of formulating an appropriate response. This is also the time to consider the need for any restorative practices that may be part of the school’s discipline plan. Even if the school does not have a formal structure of restorative practices, the process of repairing relationships is important and another key component in creating stability.
I remember sitting in the classroom of my first student teaching placement trying to figure out how the teacher did it. The kids just listened to him and did what they were supposed to do. They were far from perfect, but the classroom just worked. Over time, I found the answer. He was the anchor. He had built a stable classroom environment that he could hold together through any disruption.